Mobile Suit Gundam SEED:REBORN
by P-Striker
Summary: We're all familiar with the tale of Gundam SEED. A boy and his friends put against the insane world of the Cosmic Era. But what if things were different? New bonds, different routes, new gimmicks? This time around, join Kira and Cagalli as they brave a whole new world with their friends. I am honored and proud to present; Gundam SEED REBORN.
1. Chapter 1

_**CE 68**_

"It'll be alright, Kira," A blue haired boy says to his friends across from him. "There's no chance that a war between the PLANTS and the Earth will break out."

With that said, an animatronic bird flies from his hands to Kira's.

"There's no need to evacuate," he says. He then turns attention to his other friend. "You'll come back here too, right?"

* * *

 _ **CE 71 Jan 25, Heliopolis**_

A brown haired boy gazes wistfully at an animatronic bird flying off, laptop and homework in hand.

"Kira?" Tolle asks bemusedly, snapping Kira out of his stupor. Beside him is a brown haired girl in a yellow orange dress and a blonde haired girl clad in a jacket in spite of the warm weather.

"So this is where you were. Professor Kato's been looking for you," Tolle informs him.

"Again?" Kira questioned.

This time, the brunette speaks up.

"He asked us to bring you to him ASAP. What are you helping him with this time around?"

"Way too much!" Kira replies exasperatedly. "I'm still not done with the stuff he gave me yesterday."

'Leave it to them to push things on you,' he mused.

Just then, the laptop blared to life and reveals a news reporter standing in the ruins of a city where fighting was taking place in the background.

"According to information recently received, ZAFT forces have advanced within 6 km of Kaohsiun..-"

Just then, Kira closed his laptop.

'So this is what war brings, huh?' Kira thought.

"Some breaking news?" Tolle asked

"Yeah. Kaohsiung, apparently," Kira answered.

"If these are scenes from last week, they may have already taken over Kaohsiung by now."

Concern written all over her face, the brunette decides to voice her worries.

"That's not too far away from Orb. Will the homeland be alright.. will we be alright?" Miriallia asks.

At this time, the blonde finally decides to speak up.

"Of course we're safe! ZAFT can come within 2 feet of here for all I care. This place or the homeland won't become a battlefield. ORB's a neutral nation after all!" Cagalli answered in her typical flamboyant manner.

"Really? Then I guess we'll be alright, Cagalli," Miriallia says, calming herself.

remembering why they're here, Tolle speaks next.

"Well, that's enough of that. Let's go."

"Right."

With that said, Kira packs his things and heads off with his friends.

* * *

 ** _Outside of Heliopolis_**

A Marseille III class transport ship begins to dock inside the colonies hangar bay as a computerized voice begins to speak.

Axis adjusted, right, 6.51 points. Entry vector is good. Braking jets off. Changing control to electromagnetic dock. Deceleration rate is 2.56. Commence docking and standby.

With the ship finally docked, the Captain takes off his hat and turns his attention to the man next to him.

"The ship's safely completed it's final mission. I appreciate the escort, Lieutenant La Flaga," The Captain answered.

"Don't mention it sir, just glad we made it without incident," Mu replies.

That said, the Captain now directs his attention to the crew.

"Any ZAFT activity within the vicinity?"

"We traced two ZAFT vessels, but since we're now docked, we don't have to worry. They can't do jack now," the men at the front of the bridge reply.

With an incredulous look on his face, La Flaga speaks up.

"Because it's a neutral nation, right? What a joke."

Chuckling a bit, Captain replies, "Yes, but thanks to that, we've been able to proceed with our plans up to now. ORB is a nation of Earth, after all."

Right then, the group of men sitting at the bridge get up.

"Excuse us, captain."

He turns to them and they salute. He salutes back, and they leave. Lieutenant La Flaga looks on at the whole thing with a serious expression on his face.

"Are you sure they're capable of handling things on the ground?"

"They may be young, but they're all top-guns selected to be G-pilots. They'll do just fine. You, on the other hand, would stick out like a sore thumb," The Captain replied in a humorous manner.

Lieutenant La Flaga just smiles bashfully and looks on at the exiting men.

* * *

 ** _Nazca-class ship Vesalius_**

"Don't looks so disappointed, Ades," A masked man says to his second-in-command. Turning to him, Ades replies.

"Well, I guess it won't be too late if we wait for a reply from the council."

The masked man floats over to a table nearby Ades.

"It will be too late. My sixth sense tells me so."

He picks up a photo and passes it to him. "If we don't act now, we'll pay for it with our lives. The Earth Forces' new model mobile weapons. We must seize them before they're moved from there."

* * *

 _ **Heliopolis**_

Kira and his friends walk into a group of girls. One red-head in particular is obviously embarrassed by what her friends are saying. "I'm telling you, it's not like that!" The redhead girl replied vehemently to her friends.

Cagalli tensed. 'It's her again,' Cagalli thought to herself as she turned her attention towards Kira, monitoring the boy's reaction. He was in a daze. She let out an exasperated sigh that went unnoticed by the entire group. Noticing the new presence, the embarrassed girl faced the new group coming closer with a bright smile.

"Miriallia!"

Almost immediately after the girl replies with a short greeting of her own, one of the other girls grabbed her by the shoulders.

"I bet you know, Miriallia!" she said with a mischievous glimmer in her eye.

"Know what?"

The girl once again turns her attention to her friends.

"Cut it out!"

"She got a letter from Sai!"

At this, Kira blinks twice, before once again looking at the embarrassed girl.

"She says nothing's going on, and won't say a word! Right?"

the girl next to her nods in response.

"Would you just let it rest?" the redhead said, already starting to get annoyed.

Cagalli silently watches the entire ordeal unfold, slightly amused at the redhead's predicament.

At this point, another group appears, all wearing jackets and shades. In the center of this group is a woman, who clears her throat, getting the attention of everyone.

"If you're not planning on getting in, mind if I do?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry. Please," Tolle replies, and with that, everyone makes way for the small group.

Once they're gone, the red-head decides to finish her conversation.

"What's the big deal anyhow? Let's go!"

With that said, she and her friends (who slightly struggle keeping up with her) make their way to the newly available car.

"Let's head to the Ralsvy first before we go shopping," her friend suggests. "They may still have those parfait rolls they've been making for a limited time."

That's the last word anyone heard before the car zoomed off. The remaining group look on as they leave. Tolle speaks up first, as usual.

"That Sai wrote Flay a love letter, huh? That's a surprise. It looks like you have a rival on your hands, Kira."'

At this, Kira turns red.

"It's not like that!"He cries as he goes after his now departing friends.

* * *

Out on the highway, the mysterious trio look around nonchalantly. The woman in the backseat of the car looks out.

"This place is so peaceful," She said.

One of the men looked back at her confused.

"Eh?"

The woman spoke again while removing her sunglasses.

"To think there are people their age out in the frontlines.."

Silence fills the vehicle as it zooms off.

* * *

 _ **Outside the colony**_

A group of men wearing the red and green uniforms of ZAFT reach a gate to the colony. They manage to hack the colony security and enter without being detected.

* * *

As the vehicle zooms by, Tolle continues to persist in his askings.

"What's the problem? If you can't ask, I will."

"Tolle, you're being a pest," Kira replies as he swipes his card into the front gates of Morgenrote.

Soon they are let into the lab, where they see more of their friends. Tolle decides to make sure

their presence is known.

"Hey!"

"You finally made it," Sai replies, peeking out from the other side of the room.

Kira makes a slightly troubled face in the presence of his friend and then looks to his right, finally noticing Cagalli's strange attire.

"What?"she asks roughly

He quickly looks away and replies, "It's nothing."

That exchange said and done, she walks over to a corner and stands back against the wall.

Now noticing the absence of a certain someone, Tolle speaks up once again.

"Hey, where's the professor?"

* * *

 ** _Inside Heliopolis Infrastructure_**

The ZAFT soldiers that infiltrated the colony just earlier, began setting up bombs near every strategic and manufacturing areas without alerting the workers or security.

* * *

Sai holds up a disk and passes it to Kira.

"He handed me this," Sai tells him.

"What is it?" Kuzzy asks.

"I assume it's work for Morgenroete," Cagalli suggests.

"It's nothing special, Just a simple program analysis," Kira answered.

Remembering about their earlier encounter, Tolle sneaks up and gets Kira in a chokehold.

"More importantly, ask about the letter!"

"A letter?" Sai asks bemusedly.

"It's nothing!" Kira vehemently responds

"It's not nothing!" Tolle says as he tightens his grip on Kira. The poor brown haired boy flails his arms and legs in futile attempt to get out of his friends' grip, and blissfully unaware of the ticking of a timebomb and the approaching ZAFT soldiers.

* * *

 _ **Outside of Heliopolis**_

Two ZAFT vessels begin to make their move on approaching the colony. The masked ZAFT Commander sends word to his crew on the Vesalius and the Laurasia-class ship Gamow to prepare their mobile suits for combat.

* * *

 _ **Classroom**_

Cagalli gasped as she felt her pupils protean. Something wasn't right. Cagalli looked around the room. Kira and his friends were still messing around, and Miriallia was trying to get them to stop. Everything seemed normal, but she could tell something was amiss, and her instincts were telling her to head to the door. Locked. She took another look around the room as her eyes returned to normal. Alright, maybe she was being a little paranoid. She thinks that to herself, but even as she thinks that, she can't get rid of the sinking feeling that something big is coming.

* * *

 ** _Colony Hangar Bay_**

Alarms blared to life as the ZAFT ships approached them. The communicator speaks, trying to get a hold of the ZAFT vessels.

"Heliopolis here! Approaching ZAFT vessels, please respond! I repeat, ZAFT vessels please respond!"

The chief controller floats over to the communicator.

"Chief controller!"

"Calm down and cut off the alarm!"

Picking up the headsets, he attempts to contact the ZAFT ships.

"Notice to the approaching ZAFT vessels! Your actions are in direct violation to the treaty your nation has with us! Stop your ships at once! I repeat, stop your ships at once!"

Another man at the bridge reveals no good news.

"Powerful electrical interference coming from the ZAFT vessels! This is quite obviously a hostile act!"

The crew look on in horror as they quickly realize what's happening.

* * *

 ** _Nazca-class ship Vesallius_**

With one signal of the hand, the ship opens its launching catapult, revealing their mobile suits. Three GINNs step onto the launch catapult and launch.

* * *

Colony Hangar Bay

The seriousness of the situation can be felt all throughout the ship.

"Enemies?" Mu asks, already in his pilot suit.

"Two vessels! A Nazca and a Laurasia class! We just confirmed mobile suits taking off before our airwaves were jammed," The captain replies.

"Alright then! Have Luke and Gail standby aboard their Moebius units for now! I'm heading off!"

* * *

 _ **Observation Room**_

In the observation room, tension is high. The captain gathers his wits and tries to raise morale.

"Calm down! If we overreact now, we'd be playing ourselves into their hands! Let Heliopolis handle the situation!"

 _Propellant filled to eighty percent. Squad 16, begin loading materials._

Grabbing a headset, the Captain communicates to the Marseille III.

"I know! If things go from bad to worse, we'll launch! Get lieutenant Ramius for me and commence transfer of G-weapons!"

"Sir!"A female and male soldier said, saluting as they made their way out.

* * *

 _ **Nazca-class**_

As the GINNs made their way to the Marseille III, the captain gave his orders.

* * *

 _ **Classroom**_

It all happened so fast. Kira and his friends were just working on the analysis, when suddenly, everything just quaked. Miriallia shrieks in terror, while everyone else grabs onto whatever's closest to them as tight as they can, grunting or screaming likewise.

"An asteroid?" Sai asks in shock.

Cagalli grimaced as she thought, _'I hate being right_ '

* * *

 _ **Colony Hangar Bay**_

Mu quickly got inside his Moebius Zero. Before he could leave, he gives out his orders.

"Launch the ship. The harbor's being attacked. I'm taking off too!"

The Moebius units fired at the advancing GINN team, that maneuver easily out of the of gunfire. One of the mechanical titans counter with the heavy assault machine gun, showering the much smaller units with bullets. Two manage to evade, but one isn't so lucky. The shot incinerates the Moebius and its pilot. It's at this time the ship and it's reinforcements arrived. While the mechanical titans fight off the new reinforcements, two head down the entrance to the colony that the men had overridden earlier. Things are at an all time high for the people within the colony. Bystanders look on in confusion at the mobile suits zooming in. Meanwhile, inside the colony are the ZAFT men, all crouching atop of a hill and gathering around a silver haired red-uniformed man, using a powerful set of binoculars. After what feels like a few minutes, he spots what they're after.

"Exactly like Commander Creuset told us", he says, smirking.

"That if we poke them, they'll come out of their hole?" Another red-uniform next to him replies. "The Naturals are stupid and pathetic, after all," The silver haired soldier responded as his smirk widens.

* * *

 _ **Inside Heliopolis**_

In the cockpit, the GINN pilots receive a set of coordinates.

"Looks like they found the treasure chest! Sector S, 37th factory district!"

The second GINN pilot voices his enthusiasm over the situation.

"Roger! Way to go, Yzak. That was quick!" and with that, the two mobile suits zoom off.

* * *

 _ **Outside Heliopolis**_

The ominous silence of space is killed by the gunfire of a Moebius' vulcans, while another fired its missiles. The GINN quickly evades and twists itself away from the vulcan gunfire, then shoots down the missiles. Another GINN quickly shoots both units down. At this time, Mu's Moebius Zero deploys its two Gunbarrel pods, while firing one shot from its linear rifle. The rifle shot is easily evaded, but when the mecha tries to counter with gunfire from its own rifle, Mu quickly dodges and closes in on the GINN. At this point, he fires Gunbarrels, which had already advanced near the mobile suit. Both pods make a direct hit, and the mobile suit staggers back. Taking one more shot from the linear rifle, its rifle arm is blown clean off. The mobile suit quickly recovers from the blows just in time to avoid the gunfire from the other Moebius. With its sword now unsheathed, another GINN quickly closes in on the Moebius, constantly moving out of it's line of fire. The mobile armor's pilot lets out a scream of utter terror moments before he's cut in two by the humongous blade.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Factory District**_

"Lieutenant Ramius! We've lost contact with the ship! The situation's unknown!" A maintenance worker says, slightly panicked. At this very moment, the ZAFT mobile suits enter the vicinity, much to everyone's horror. They just barely made it out their line of fire. Quickly regaining her wits, Murrue gives out her orders.

"Prepare the X-105 and X-303 for combat! Whatever the case, we'll get them out of the factory district!"

With that, the two quickly make their way to the mobile suits. Meanwhile, the mechanical menaces begin to destroy all supply vehicles in sight.

* * *

 _ **The Stairwell Hallways**_

Well, this was uncalled for.

That was the thought shared by everyone in the trembling room. Miriallia looks on horrified as the room continues threatening to collapse. Noticing this, Tolle puts a comforting arm around her, calming the girl slightly. Sai makes his way to the emergency door and opens it to find several people making their way up the stairs. Seeing that the kids are rather confused by this set of events, one civilian decides to tell them the situation.

"We're under attack by ZAFT! Mobile suits have entered the colony!"

Cagalli's eyes widen disbelievingly, and quickly she makes her way back to the locked door. Kira is quick to run after her.

"Cagalli, what are you doing?!" He cries to her.

"I want to confirm things! I can't believe that ORB's being attacked!" She replies. But there was something more to this stunt of hers, and they both knew it. Just then, the building quaked again, this time leaving behind a huge amount of dust.

"Kira!" Tolle cries

"I'll be right back!" He replies, continuing his chase.

* * *

 _ **Outside the Factory District**_

The GINNs are doing a magnificent job at wrecking shit up. Small teams attempt to counter with an array of missiles, which the mobile suits easily side away from. Now, it was their turn again, and with a short burst of machine gun fire, the team is blown to dust. At this point, the ZAFT team decides to make their move. Activating their jetpacks and rifles in hand, they head off towards the G-Weapons. The silver head leading the charge gives out the orders.

"Destroy the parts we can't carry along with the factories! According to the report, there should be five. This probably means the other two are still inside."

A blue haired red takes this moment to voice his idea.

"Rusty and my squad will go. Yzak, you guys take these three."

"Alright. I'll leave it to you. Those who board them, remember to disarm the self-destruct first!"

And with that, they arrive at their destination. As soon as as they land, they start firing, taking out three EA soldiers. One of the reds advances with a grenade, and blows a cargo carrier to shreds.

* * *

 _ **The Hallways of the Factory**_

Kira grabs Cagalli's shoulders, finally having caught up to her.

"What are you doing?!" he cries. "It's no use going that way!"

"Go on without me! I'll be fine, I just want to check something out!"

Right then, the building starts to show signs of aftermath shockwaves and a strong gust comes their way.

Continuing the conversation, Cagalli says, "Just go! There's something I NEED to check out!"

"That's easy to say, but how exactly do you suggest I get back?"

She turns and faces him and is about to say something, but before she can, Kira continues after looking around a bit.

"How about this way? Come on!"

That said, he quickly grabs her by the hand and runs towards a relatively in tact hallway.

"Let go of me, you idiot!" She cries indignantly.

He tilts his head in her direction and is about to reply, but stops when he notices she's on the verge of tears.

"I never thought that….that we'd get involved!" She says, her voice cracking.

"Don't worry! It'll be alright! There are still some shelters in the factory district!"

* * *

 _ **Inside the Factory District**_

The deafening sounds of gunfire can be heard all throughout the vicinity. Things are more or less even until a ZAFT red hurls a grenade, blowing opposing forces away. Lieutenant Ramius swears as she reloads her rifle.

* * *

 _ **Outside the building**_

Sai and his friends look on paralyzed and in disbelief at the ensuing chaos. Another small group of tanks attempt to counter the terrifyingly powerful mobile suits, but to little to no avail as they're annihilated just as quickly as they were formed. This was not looking well. Not in the slightest.

* * *

…

 _ **Factory hallways**_

The duo finally make their way to an entrance where they see the battle scene, leaning on the rails. Most shockingly..

"T-Those are-" Kira was unable to continue speaking as to what he's seeing.

"Mobile suits," Cagalli finishes in despair and shock as she falls to the ground, her hands still gripping tightly around the rails. Noticing the new voices, Murrue quickly turns her attention to the two, raising her rifle.

"This is crazy! " Kira exclaims, once again grabbing the dazed Cagalli and running off again, narrowly avoiding a bullet. Getting a good look at the two, she lowers her rifle.

"Children?" She asks bemusedly.

"Crying isn't gonna help! Come on, run!" Kira says as he forcibly takes Cagalli's hand, trying to get themselves to safety.

Meanwhile, one of the mobile suits prior seen slowly rises, grabbing hold of its shield and rifle.

"Wow! This thing's pretty impressive," Yzak says. "Dearka, how's yours?"

"Everything's alright here. Update activated, nerve link reconstructed. Calibration complete. It'll move," He replies. With the two mobile suits up and at it, Yzak turns his direction to the third unit.

"Nicol?" He questions.

"Not yet," the Green haired boy replies as he nimbly types on the keyboard.

"Almost there…"

A few moments after, the third mobile suit finally stands.

"Where's Athrun and Rusty?" Dearka inquires. "They're certainly taking their sweet time."

"They'll be fine," Yzak replies. "In any case, now that we've got these three, we'll be heading back now. Make sure they don't get damaged."

And with that, the three G-weapons activate their thrusters and make their leave, flying upwards along with a GINN that comes as an escort.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Factory District**_

The two finally make it to a shelter. While Kira is relieved, Cagalli is still in a daze.

"See?" Kira says, catching his breath. "I told you some people evacuated here."

He presses the communication button. Someone from the inside responds.

"Is there someone still out there?"

"Yes. My friend and I need to get in."

"Two of you?"

"Yes!"

"There are thirty-seven shelters in the left block. Can you make it there?"

Kira takes a glance at the distance before speaking once again.

"Please at least take my friend, she's a girl!"

Before anyone can answer, the ground vibrates violently under their feet, and they lose their balance. When they get up, they're both shocked to see that the door is now broken and destroyed. Kira desperately presses the communication button continually, calling out again and again before giving up.

'Damn it all!', Kira internally swears. After a few short moments of recollecting himself, Kira turns and speaks to Cagalli.

"Alright, we'll have to hurry and try to get to the other side."

With Cagalli finally having snapped out of it, the duo quickly dash for the left block. Kira turns to see the two dormant G-weapons and the woman from before on top of one.

"Hanna! Brian! Get them started!" She orders as she reloads her rifle. Meanwhile on the other side of the railings, a green ZAFT soldier that's already finished reloading aims his rifle at the Lieutenant.

"Watch out! Behind you!" Kira cries.

Quickly turning around, she fires two shots at the green soldier, who falls almost instantly.

That being taken care of, she turns her attention to the duo.

"The kids from earlier? But why?" She asks to no one in particular. Not two seconds after saying that, another worker falls. She grimaces, quickly leaps over to the side and fires, killing another green soldier.

"Come here!" She shouts out to the kids.

"Thanks, but we're heading to the shelters in the left block! Don't mind us!" He replies.

"There's nothing left behind that door!"

The two's eyes widen at the seemingly hopeless situation. Barely seconds later, an explosion rips from the previous entrance, and the duo scurry away from the flames. Carrying Cagalli piggy-back, he quickly jumps over the railings and lands on the shoulder on one of the mobile suits, losing his balance and quickly falling after landing, but relatively unscathed. Ramius observes this in shock

 _'could he be..?_ '

* * *

 _ **The other side of the Factory**_

As the intense gunfire continues, both sides continue to lose combatants. One blonde green soldier rushes out of cover. This serves to bring along his own undoing.

'' Rusty!'' the blue-haired Zaft soldier shouts as he watches his comrade's head being penetrated by the incoming bullets. He rushes out of his cover, sets his machine gun to automatic fire, and kills the remaining worker that brought Rusty's demise.

Just as Ramius noticed his death, she's shot in the shoulder. Losing balance, she falls on to the chest of the dormant mobile suit. Unadulterated rage contorting his features, he aims his rifle at her, ready to finish her off. After a few attempts to reload, it's now become obvious that the damn thing's jammed. Without second thoughts, he grabs his knife and rushes towards her, ready to end things close and personal. Split-seconds pass as Kira watches horrified at the scene. Still carrying Cagalli on his back, he rushes in to help the now injured Lieutenant. The Zaft soldier runs at maximum speed, and just then, through all the smoke and fire, when he's just a few feet away from her, He suddenly stops when he notices the two there with her.

''Athrun?!'' Kira shouts shocked. Now having gotten off of the brunette, she turns her attention to the red.

"What are you doing here? You did this?" She cries.

''Kira..? Cagalli..?" Athrun reluctantly lowers his knife just before Ramius manages to pull herself together and takes aim. Grunting in frustration at the worsening situation, he bounces away from the three. Taking advantage of this, Ramius quickly pushes the two into the mobile suit. A few seconds after, the mobile suit slowly wakes. As this happens, the building yields a huge explosion. Through the dust and flames, a Gundam rises.

It is year 70 of the Cosmic Era. Due to the "Bloody Valentine" tragedy, tensions between the Earth and PLANT escalated into armed conflict. No one doubted that the much larger Earth forces would be victorious, but these predictions soon proved to be false. With ZAFT's superior humanoid mecha known as mobile suits, they were able to surpass expectations. Almost eleven months have passed since the war began, with no end in sight.


	2. Phase 2:the name is Gundam

_'This couldn't possibly get any worse,'_ Cagalli thought as she moved aside, making room for Ramius in the cockpit. Kira does the same.

 _'Even I ought to be capable of piloting this',_ the Lieutenant thinks to herself. While this is happening, Athrun is already seating himself inside the cockpit of the last remaining mobile suit, going by the name, "Aegis". Kira looks to it and thinks back to his prior encounter. ' _Could it really be him?'_

With that final thought, he turns his attention to the smaller screens in the cockpit. A blue screen blares up and displays an acronym.

"Gun..dam," the brunette mutters, his voice barely above a whisper.

 _A level 8 evacuation order has been issued for all of Heliopolis. residents are to make their way to the closest shelter at once_. Barely seconds after this message is broadcasted, chaos ensues. Citizens dashing pushing at each other screaming with panicked eyes while the GINNs continue destroying military supplies. Kira's friends run through the ruins of the city, looking desperately for shelters. They stop as they see a huge explosion, and possibly more notably, two gray mobile suits with V-finned antennae.

The Aegis flies over to Miguel's GINN while the Strike goes to stand opposite of them.

"Athrun!"

"Rusty failed!" Athrun declares.  
"What?"

"The other machine has been boarded by an Earth Forces officer," Athrun informs his comrade while looking back at the other gray mobile suit. The machine in question stumbles toward the Aegis and GINN. In the cockpit, screens of the two mobile suits and Kira's friends pop up. "Sai! Tolle! Kuzzey! Miriallia!" Kira exclaims. Why haven't his friends gotten to safety? Miguel takes action and fires a shot at the Strike. With the limited movement the mobile suit has, the shot makes a direct hit to the leg, causing it to temporarily lose balance. Murrue grasps the controls tightly, clenching her teeth, while Kira and Cagalli try their best not to lose balance at the sudden impact. "I'll capture that machine!" Miguel declares as he holsters the rifle in favor for his heavy sword. Turning his attention to Athrun, he says, "you go ahead and leave here with that!"

Those are the last words that Athrun hears before the blonde begins his charge. Athrun gasps in surprise at the sudden retreat order. He then starts thinking about his earlier encounter.

 _'Kira? Cagalli? No, it can't be! There's no way they could've been there!'_

With that final thought, Athrun gets to work on the Aegis' OS.

* * *

Kira, Cagalli, and Murrue look on in dread at the GINN rushing at towards them. The Strike hops back, narrowly avoiding a slash from the GINN's blade, but the resulting impact of the landing severely rattles the cockpit's inhabitants. Kira, actually losing balance, falls in the way of the seat. "Stay back! Do you want to die?!" Murrue shrieks. Quickly muttering an apology, Kira begins to pick himself up, only to see the GINN advancing way too close for comfort. The boy screams in terror, and Cagalli just looks on, fear stealing her vocal cords, while Murrue just grimaces at the approaching foe. Starting up the thrusters and placing both hands on the sword, Miguel jumps, bringing the blade over his shoulders and swings downward. The blade is moments from connecting with its target when suddenly...  
-

The Strike, now clad in blue and white with some yellow and red mixed in, puts up its arms and parries the attack. Sparks fly while Kira, Athrun, and Cagalli exclaim in shock of the new revelation.

"What?!" The blonde pilot cries.

"This mobile suit…." Cagalli says in awe, regaining her wits. At this point, the pain from the wound inflicted earlier takes its toll on Ramius, who winces at the force behind the attack.

Deciding that continuing like this would be pointless, Miguel quickly pulls back.

"Dammit, what the hell's going on?"

At this moment, the communication screen turns on, and a recomposed Athrun appears.

"They're equipped with Phase Shift Armor," He says. "Once activated, a GINN's saber is useless!"

Athrun then activates his armor. The Aegis becomes red with some black mixed in, and counters some incoming missiles with its head mounted CIWS Vulcan guns. Swiveling the head around, he then fires at an incoming anti-MS tank, pelting it with bullets. The tank is destroyed in no time at all. Miguel turns his attention to Athrun and gives out his orders.

"You've gotta get outta here! There's no point in you sticking around forever!"

Athrun takes one last nostalgic glance at the Strike and leaves. Likewise, Kira and Cagalli take a fleeting glance at the departing Aegis before quickly redirecting their focus to the nearing GINN.

With a grunt of frustration, Ramius fires the CIWS at the approaching mobile suit. Miguel easily flies under the fire. At this point, Kira now notices something about the Strike.

This thing hasn't been..! Before he can finish that thought, Miguel closes the distance between them and vertically swings his blade. Ramius manages to sidestep away from the attack, but the GINN isn't finished just yet .

"Don't think you're invincible because you've got superior armor!" The blonde ZAFT soldier yells out.

Taking one hand off the sword, the GINN regains its composure and flies towards the Strike again, this time slashing horizontally. While Phase Shift protects the mobile suit from any real harm, the force behind it pushes them back. The three groan at the blow, but they haven't the time to lick their wounds, as the GINN dashed for them.

"You don't have the skill!" He cries as he brings his blade up and delivers another vertical slash, bringing the mobile suit down on a building. Through the screen of the mobile suit, Kira and Cagalli see the horrified expressions of their friends. Unfortunately, Miguel isn't planning on cutting some slack.

"A natural piloting a mobile suit?! You're way in over your head!"

The GINN walks over to the Strike, ready to finish it. Ramius backs away slowly on guard in response. As the GINN pulls back the sword, Kira finally realizes how close to his friends they are. If they get finished here...

The GINN finally thrusts the blade forward, aiming for the cockpit. At this point, Kira quickly mans the controls. The Strike ducks under the Sword, and slams into the GINN. Miguel exclaims in shock as his suit falls to the ground. Tolle, Miriallia, and the others look on, equally surprised. Ramius looks at him, slowly realizing _what_ this boy may be.

"You…"

"There are still people here," he says as he starts punching in a few buttons as the GINN begins to slowly rise. "If you're gonna try and ride this thing, try and put it to good use!"

Kira looks over at the OS on the lower screen before turning to Murrue.

"This is insane! You people expect to move something as complex as this with such an OS?" Kira asks incredulously.

"It's still incomplete! It can't be helped!" Murrue answers back.

 _'Why am I not surprised?'_ the boy thought bitterly.

Having gotten up again, Miguel glares furiously at the mobile suit before him.

"Damn you!" he screams.

"Move it, fast!" Kira cries. Complying, Ramius steps aside. Now in the pilot seat, Kira pulls up the keyboard. At this moment, Kira pauses as he notices something else about the OS.

 _'This looks familiar….where have I seen this before?'_

Noticing Kira's lack of focus, Cagalli grabs Kira by the shoulders and shakes him slightly. Having regained focus, he takes one more look at things before turning to Cagalli.

"Hey, could you help me out with this?"

Nodding in reply, she scooches over to the front of the cockpit with Kira. Kira takes the left side of the program while Cagalli takes the right. After silently agreeing to this, their fingers swiftly dance over the keys. Murrue looks on, unable to wipe the obvious surprise off her face.

 _'These kids…'_

Igniting the thrusters, the GINN begins to make its way over to the Strike. Seeing this coming, Kira pelts the advancing GINN with CIWS fire (much to its pilot's surprise), slightly slowing down the mechanical menace. Rebalancing itself with one leg and running the rest of the distance, Miguel once again closes in on the Strike, thrusting the blade at it. Cagalli takes over for Kira as the Strike ducks, and with a swift punch to the head, the GINN is thrown back into a building. Having gained some time, Kira returns to his side and the two furiously type away on the keyboard. _'Take the calibrations and reset the zero moment point and CPG. Then connect the control module to the molecular ion pump! Reconstructing the neural link network! Renew meta-active field, reactivate_ feed-forward _controls, convey function..! System online! Initiate bootstrap!'_

In a few seconds, the screen lights up, showing the update has been completed.

"What. The. Fuck." This was the strongest thought running through Miguel's mind as he got up once again.

"What the heck got into that guy?" he thought out loud. The GINN sheathes its sword in favor of the rifle and takes two shots at the Strike. Unable to react in time, the bullets hit the left shoulder and right hip. Cagalli lets out a weak and pained whimper as she hits the wall of the cockpit. Kira turns worried eyes to the girl as she falls back down. That worry soon turns to panic when he sees the blood running freely down her face. Kira turns to Murrue and cries, "help her out!" Murrue brings the groaning girl closer to her and she does her best to tend to her wounds as Kira refocuses his attention on the GINN.

With the Strike having recovered, Kira fired up his thrusters in response, flying upward. Miguel fires at the elevating mobile suit before igniting his own thrusters and following suit. This time seeing the shots coming, Kira swerves to the side, avoiding the stream of bullets as Miguel finally catches up to them and continues his attack. Punching in some keys, Kira locates the weapons of the Strike. The screen displays two weapons; a pair of "Armor Schneider" anti-ms knives and the depleted "Igelstellung" Vulcans.

"What the hell were you people thinking when you made this?!" He cried. Unfolding the side skirt pockets, Kira grabs both knives. Landing on the ground, Miguel sets the rifle to auto and fires. The Strike lands soon after and makes a dash for the mechanic menace. By this point, Miguel's growing frustrations towards the Gundam reach their pique.

"Damn it, you pest!" he cries.

'Not here!'

Igniting the thrusters again, Kira maneuvers aside from the volley, closing the gap between them. Crouching under one last shot, the Strike quickly skewers the shoulder joints of the GINN; It gives an ear-piercing shriek as its arms fall. In the cockpit, a computerized voice speaks.

Hydro not responding! Multi-drive system offline! Swearing, Miguel unfastens himself and pulls a lever, activating the self-destruct sequence. Noticing the escaping pilot, Cagalli and Murrue quickly realize what's happening.

"Kira, get away!" Cagalli cries. "It's gonna-"

The explosion interrupts her before she can finish, pushing the suit back. Kira, Cagalli, and Ramius scream as they're rocked violently and fall to the ground once more. Meanwhile, on the outside, their friends all flinch at the strong gusts and ashes coming their way.

* * *

 ** _In a Rubbled Hallway_**

She was floating, unconscious in the dim room. Moments later, she's awoken from the rising corpse of a fellow worker colliding into her, pushing her to the ceiling. She weakly opens her eyes. What's seen next shocks her to her core; Virtually complete destruction and corpses everywhere. As she hovers towards the dead body, she then remembers something important.

"The ship! Where's the Archangel?"

She lands, leaving the dead body, and heads off towards the ship.

Outside the Colony

The Marseille III is 0taking a major beating by the MS-team. One GINN finally manages to get a lucky shot in, destroying the ship's engine and sending them straight for the colony. At the bridge, the Helmsmen gives everyone the terrible news.

"I can't move it!"

The captain lets out his final scream as the ship collides with the colony; They're obliterated in mere seconds as the flames from the exploding ship envelope them. Mu chases after a GINN, steering it away from Heliopolis. He swears as he once again deploys his Gunbarrels.

"Can't we do something about this difference in battle strength?"

The GINN quickly zips out of the Gunbarrel shots while trying to shoot them down. The barrels dart out of the way and fire, this time hitting the rifle. It explodes in the GINN's face before it can be discarded, making it stumble back a little.

Taking advantage of this, Mu charges at the GINN, firing his linear rifle and Gunbarrels. It charges straight for the Moebius with its sword in hand, dodging two shots from the salvo, but that's about as fortunate as it gets. The rest of the combined firepower connects with the GINN's weapon hand, tearing it right off. In response, the mobile suit quickly dashes backward, avoiding a few shots, and dashes towards its ship.

* * *

 ** _Nazca-class ship Vesalius_**

"Olor's suit's been heavily damaged. He's making an emergency return!" the ZAFT communications operative informs the Captain. "Firefighting unit, to B-Deck!"

"Olor's been hit? In a simple battle like this?" Captain Ades asks, confused.

The masked Commander finally speaks in his typical calm and laid back tone. "There appears to be one annoying fly buzzing around."

While the Lieutenant looks back at his Commander, bemused by the remark, more shocking news from the operative comes in.

"Laser beacon from Miguel Aiman received! It's an emergency."

Both men turn in complete disbelief at the information.

"If it's working well enough to cause Miguel to lose his unit..." The Commander said, slowly rising out of his seat. "All the more reason why we can't ignore the last one."

With that said, the Commander got up and headed for the mobile suit deck.

* * *

 _ **Observation Room**_

"Is anyone here? Anyone?" She called out, but to no avail. The place was a ghost town. Tearing up a little, she shouts with all her might.

"Are there any survivors?"

After a few moments of silence, she hears a tapping sound akin to steps. She turns her attention to its direction. Seconds later, a door is kicked open, revealing a young man with a flashlight which he turns to her. She flinches slightly and shields her eyes from the light. The man speaks, lowering the flashlight.

"Ensign Natarle Badgiruel. Glad to see you're still alive."

* * *

 _ **Outside the Colony**_

The retreat signal is finally activated. GINNs instantly dash towards the ship, forgetting about the lone survivor of their attack.

"They're retreating?" Mu asks bemusedly to himself. He looks around the area tensely.

There's still something….. He thought. Just then, a white mobile suit known as the CGUE appears, dashing straight for him.

"This doesn't look good…" he thought out loud.

"Tell me," the masked man starts. "Do you feel my presence? Do you sense it in the same way that I sense yours? An unfortunate fate, wouldn't you say? Mu La Flaga!"

* * *

 _ **Inside the Colony**_

"Nice…" Kuzzy says as he stands on the knee of the now kneeling Gundam. Cagalli just looks on disdainfully at the mobile suit as she holds an Ice bag to her head.

 _'How could they build one of these things..? Has ORB…?'_

Her thoughts are soon interrupted by the sounds of groans. A now conscious Ramius winces as she slowly opens her eyes, and realizes two things. First being she's on a bench.

Second and most important being, the Strike is nowhere in sight. She turns her head and is met with the smiling face of a relieved Miriallia.

"I'm glad that you're finally awake," she started. "We were beginning to think you wouldn't make it." With that said, she calls for Kira and walks away. The boy walks over to the Lieutenant. She winces again as she tries to get up. At this moment, she notices the bandages wrapped around her injured arm. _'They helped me?'_

"You shouldn't move too much right now," Kira says worriedly. She looks at the boy, obviously confused on what the current situation is. He momentarily meets her gaze then looks down.  
"I apologize," he started solemnly. "I got a bit carried away."

At this point, Miriallia returns with a bottle of water.

"Do you want some?"

After several moments of silence, she finally says, "Yes, thank you."

She's helped up by Kira, and with her non-injured arm, she takes the bottle and downs it as fast as she can. While she's drinking, she hears the voices of Kuzzy and Tolle.

"This is the so-called Gundam, huh? I'm impressed," Tolle remarked.

"Can this thing move or not?" Kuzzy asked.

Sai points to the boys, looking on disapprovingly.

"Guys, stop playing with it!"

Tolle looks around in the cockpit and crawls out a little.

"Why did it turn gray all of a sudden?" He asks in confusion.

"Maybe because the main battery's outta power," Kuzzy replies.

Moments later, everyone's attention is captured by the sound of a gunshot. Tolle stiffens and Kuzzy flinches, putting his arms up in defense as the bullet ricochets off the upper left of the Strike's chest. Cagalli drops her ice bag as she turns her eyes to Murrue.

"Stay away from that machine!" The lieutenant exclaims, aiming her pistol at the boys.

Kira runs to her as she slowly rises and walks over to the machine.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Please stop it!" Kira cries.

"You know," Cagalli starts. "That's an _awfully_ rude way to thank the people that carried out your unconscious body."

Ramius turns and faces the blonde and brings the pistol to her face. At this point, Cagalli steps in front of Kira, glaring daggers at the Lieutenant, almost daring her to pull the trigger.

"Cagalli, please…" the brunette pleaded while stepping in between the two of the females. The two back away slightly as Ramius finally speaks.

"Don't get me wrong," she says. "I'm grateful that you saved me. But that thing's a top-secret military project!"

Kira's friends walk over to the three. Now with everyone here, she continues.

"This isn't something that's supposed to be touched by civilian hands!"

"Give me a break. Kira was piloting the thing not too long ago," Tolle mutters. Ramius turns her attention to the boys in response, pointing the pistol at them. They quickly put their hands up in surrender.

"All of you! This way!" She points them to the direction where Kira and Cagalli are. Reluctantly, they all comply. Walking back a few steps, she now faces everyone. After a few moments of internal conflict, she gives them instructions.

"Give me your names, one at a time."

The tallest one with shades speaks up first. "My name is Sai Argyle."

The shortest talks next. "I'm Kuzzey Buskirk."

Tolle and Miriallia speak next. With those four out of the way, Ramius finally shifts her attention to the duo. The boy looks on solemnly at her before reluctantly giving her his name.

"Kira Yamato."

"Cagalli Yula," she says flatly, glaring at her. Now having given their names, she gives them the same courtesy.

"I'm Murrue Ramius, an Earth Alliance Forces Officer," she somberly informs. "I hate to say this, but I can't allow you kids to leave here."

At this, everyone gasps, excluding Cagalli who grimaces at the news.

"Regardless of how it happened, you guys saw something you shouldn't have. Until I reach appropriate authorities, you're stuck with me."

"That's bullshit!" Cagalli cries.

Kira's friends all make similar remarks.

"You'll do as I say," Murrue says sternly. This time, Sai speaks up.

"We're citizens of Heliopolis! We're neutral, and we've got nothing to do with the military!"

"He's right!" Tolle says in agreement. "What the heck are Earth Forces doing here anyways? It makes no sense!"

"That's how this fiasco started in the first place!" Kuzzy chimes in.

Their rantings are disrupted by the firing of the pistol; They're quickly silenced as they turn their attention to the source of the sound. Murrue slowly brings the pistol back down from the sky and in their direction once more.

"Quiet! You kids don't understand anything!" the woman spoke in an angry tone.

Cagalli speaks up again."That's the point! We don't understand! Tell us! Why are we in this mess?"

Murrue fires one more shot into the air. "Listen! By declaring you're neutral and have nothing to do with this, you distance yourself from what's really going on. You don't really buy that, do you?" Cagalli tenses; Ignoring this, she continues.

"The Earth forces' most vital weapons were here...and you people saw it! That's the reality you all face now."

After a few moment of silence, Sai speaks up first.

"That's kind of rough."

"It may be pretty rough, but we're in the middle of a war here, in case you haven't noticed! A war outside the world you guys seclude yourselves in."

"A retarded war…" Cagalli mutters under her breath.

"What was that?" Murrue says, turning her attention to the Blonde.

"Cagalli, don't," Kira starts. Ignoring him, she continues.

"Oh come on! A damned near genocidal war between coordinators and naturals? It's idiotic!" She rants. Murrue silently agrees with the blonde's outburst, but even so, that doesn't change the situation.

* * *

 _ **Outside the Colony near the Support Beams**_

The Moebius Zero flies around steadily. Mu's eyes dart left and right, searching the vicinity for **_him_**. He quickly looks up as the CGUE dashes out from behind one of the support beams and fires. Mu quickly darts away from the bullets, cursing.

"Bastard! Is that you, Rau le Creuset?!" Swiveling the Mobile Armor around, he charges for Rau, dodging his shots while firing the linear rifle. Rau quickly dashes aside from the blasts. Seeing this, Mu gets out one Gunbarrel. The CGUE fires at him in response. The mobile armor flies out of harm's way and dashes towards Rau, closing the distance between them. At this point, the Gunbarrel finally comes into firing range. Mere seconds before it could fire, Rau shoots down the pod.

"You're always getting in my way, Mu! Though you may say the same of me!"

Lowering his rifle, he makes a dash for the colony entrance. Growling at this turn of events, Mu quickly chases after him.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Hangar Bay**_

Making their way through the ruins, the man informs her of their current predicament.

"The only survivors are the few of us who were aboard the ship during the explosions," He started. "But most of them are factory workers."

"What's the present situation on the ZAFT vessels?"

"I don't know," He replied grimly. "Our hands are full already just trying to figure out things around us." As he says this, Natarle steps forward to the main controls of the bridge, pressing a button. Soon, the whole room is illuminated and the screens begin to activate. The main screen displays the state of the damaged ship.

"This is quite the ship," She says. "It's going to take a lot more than this to sink it."'

"However, there's also the problem of the harbor exit being blocked off with a rubble heap..."

"So we're completely trapped, huh..?" After a few moments of silence, she punches in a few more buttons, and the communication systems start up, but its screen reveals nothing but snow and loud static. The two gasp at this, coming to a realization.

"The airwaves are jammed, but...then this was just a diversion? Then does that mean..?"

Slamming her fist on the controls, she replies.

"ZAFT's true goal was Morgenroete. Dammit! What's the situation over there? Where are the G-weapons? This doesn't tell me a thing!" She hangs her head down at the hopeless situation. Just then, the communication screen blared to life as a stifled voice comes through to them.

"05….Strike here….forces…..respond.."

Natarle lifts her head, gasping. There was still hope after all.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Colony**_

"X-105 Strike here, Earth Forces please respond!" A headset equipped Kira says. He repeats this for a couple more times but is met with nothing but static. Meanwhile, a truck is brought over to the Mobile Suit. Sai quickly runs over to Kira, Murrue, and Miriallia.

"The number five trailer you asked for. That's the one, right?" Sai asks.

"Yes, thank you," Murrue replies.

"So what do you want from us after this?"

"Get the Striker pack," She starts. With that said, she now turns her attention to the brunette. "And after that, try contacting them again, Kira."

"Okay," he replies, slowly walking back over to the Strike.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Hangar Walls**_

The white mobile suit rockets upwards, making its way to a path in the Colony's walls. After getting past it, Rau turns his attention to a persistent nuisance. He raises his rifle and fires a volley at the Moebius Zero; the small mobile armor swiftly dives over the shots before firing another round from the linear rifle. The shots miss their target and hit the walls, exploding and punching holes into the colony. The mobile suit continues on, refusing to let its prey out of its sight and fires again. Mu flies under the bullets, swearing. He tsks in frustration as Rau flies behind a wall, escaping his line of fire.

"Why, in a place like this?"

"I'd be real glad if you'd vanish right about now, Mu!" With that said, Rau dashes out of cover and fires at the mobile armor, hitting the Gunbarrels. Mu quickly ejects the exploding weapon pods, and rockets up, with Rau in hot pursuit.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Hangar Bay**_

Now seated in the Captain's chair, Natarle checks the settings of the Archangel one last time.

"Launch the ship?" Arnold asked incredulously. "That's nothing short of impossible with the number of people we have!"

"If you've got time to argue, spend it finding a way to do it!" She shot back. "Morgenroette could still be in danger, you know! Are you saying we should just remain here and ignore it?!"

At this moment, the door slides open and three more men hover towards the ship bridge. The tallest one of the group speaks first.

"I brought them!" Jackie Tonomura informs.

"Take your seats and do as the computer instructs you!" Natarle replies.

They salute and quickly go to their seats. Arnold once again voices his concerns over the matter.

"The ZAFT vessels are still out there! We're not in the position to fight!"

"I know that! Prepare to fire the assault cannons as soon as we launch! You can do that, can't you, Chief Petty Officer Neumann?"

With a reluctant grunt, Arnold drops in his seat and turns the chair forward in response. With everyone now in their seats, Natarle begins to give out her orders once more.

"Begin takeoff sequence!" Due to urgency, we'll omit C-30 to L-21 from the process! Main power online!" The central screens on the bridge of the ship display the main states of the Archangel.

"Output increase stable. 450 seconds to required ratings," Dalida informs.

"That's too long! What's the status of conduits to Heliopolis?" The tall man gasps as he checks them.

"They're unharmed!" he says.

"Draw power from them!" she replies. "Conduits online! Relay power to accumulator!"

"Confirming connection! Flow stable! 20 seconds to required rating!" Romero Pal states.

"Life support systems satisfactory. CIC online," Dalida says.

"Weapon system online. FCS contact," Arnold starts.

"Magnetic chamber and pellet dispenser idling stable," Dalida speaks next. "Holding external shock damper at maximum output."

Arnold chimes in again. "Contact main power. Engine stable. All Archangel systems online. Preparations for takeoff complete!" seconds after that's said, a pop-up appears on the main screen, declaring a successful bootup. At this point, Natarle says, "Seal all airtight bulkheads! All hands, be prepared for impact and sudden damage to the ship..and proceed slowly. Archangel, take off!" The engines roared to life, steadily pushing them forward through the debris-filled vicinity. Elsewhere on the ship, the legs of the Archangel shift and retract, unveiling the "Lohengrin" positron blaster guns.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Hangar Walls**_

Zipping over two shots from one remaining Gunbarrel pod below and before him, Rau continues his chase. The pod continues its assault, moving back while doing so. All of sudden, The CGUE flies downward and stomps on the pod. Rau jumps away quickly from the small explosion that ensues. Mu zips to the side and fires another round of the linear rifle. Dashing to the side and retreating back a bit, the white mobile suit fires back.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Colony**_

The Strike walks over and kneels next to the nearby truck. As soon as this transpires, the truck opens itself, revealing two contents. At the same time, a ladder rises from the truck. With these two out, Kira crawls out of his seat in the cockpit.

"Which one is the power pack?" He calls out.

"The weapons and power pack are together in one unit! Mount the whole thing!" At this point, Miriallia notices the continued screams of the alarm.

"The evacuation orders are still in effect, I guess." Now that Cagalli thought about it, she was sure the alarm stopped for quite some time. She tensed as she realized what this could mean. Meanwhile, the others are much calmer in their thoughts.

"I wonder if my father and the others got away safely." Sai thought out loud as he checked on the content of the truck, with a keyboard in his hand.

A nearby Kuzzy let out a deflated sigh and joined his friend in commenting about the situation.

"I wanna go home already." Moments after he says this, everyone's attention is caught by the sounds of an explosion. The white mobile suit dashes through the flames first, with the Moebius Zero close behind. Everyone gasps at this revelation. "Mobile suits…" Cagalli utters stiffly, glaring at them. The CGUE's mono eye flashes red as it focuses on the kneeling Strike.

"So that's it...the final unit?" He says to no one in particular. Moments later, The mobile suit swoops down as the others on the ground watch, wide-mouthed.

Murrue quickly runs over to Kira and the Strike. "Mount the equipment! Hurry!" As she says this, Mu catches up to Rau, firing two Linear rifle shots at him. Rau fires likewise while dashing away from his fire, putting them in a stalemate.

Kira quickly gets to work, fingers ablaze on the keyboard. Deciding that enough is enough, Rau draws out his heavy sword and flies straight downwards towards the mobile armor. Mu gasps at this, and quickly raises his rifle upwards; the weapon is swatted aside and broken effortlessly. "What?" He cries aloud.

Rau smirks victoriously at this and flies down once more to capture his prey.

"I'll sink you now while I have the chance!"

Kira screams in horror at the speeding mobile suit coming his way. With the unit finally mounted, he wastes no time in turning on the Strike's power. Soon enough, the suit is soon once again garbed in color, standing up and facing the advancing enemy.

The Archangel hovers over to a wall. "Fire assault cannons as we reach maximum battle speed!" Soon after the command escapes Natarle's lips, the guns light up, breathing in particles before releasing two brilliant waves of red and faint bluish light;The ensuing explosion punches a huge hole in the colony. Shifting his attention to it, Rau swivels his mobile suit around. He is met with the sight of the Archangel flying out through the flames and ashes. Kira looks upward at the colossal ship above him, breathless.


	3. Chapter 3

Rau looked on, rather surprised at the ascending ship before him.  
"The new Warship? So they couldn't destroy it after all," he mused.  
Elsewhere, a certain mobile armor pilot looks on at the scene equally perplexed. On the ground, a shocked Murrue cries the ship's name with eyes wide as saucers.  
"The Archangel!"

* * *

''We made it through the exit and are now in the colony's interior,'' Arnold informs. Jackie then proceeds to notify the crew of the colony's current predicament.  
''Morgenroete has been destroyed! Also, the Strike has been activated. Wait, no, it's already in combat!''  
The white mobile suit approaches the Archangel and shoots a few rounds at the ship.  
''Evade! Starboard!'' Natarle orders. Arnold grunts as he steers the ship aside. The Archangel twirls, barrel rolling away from the shots. Soon after that, Rau sets his sights on the recently activated Strike.  
"Phase Shift? Well, how about this?!'' He cries as he opens fire towards the Strike.  
''Get down!" Murrue shouts as bullets hurtle towards Kira's friends. With a startled grunt, Kira quickly moves the Strike back in a kneeling position, shielding his friends. The bullets fly off the mobile suit harmlessly.  
''So even the enhanced APSV couldn't scratch it?'' A shocked Rau inquiries to no one in particular.  
The Archangel, having regained its stability, targets the preoccupied white mobile suit.  
''Listen! Under NO circumstances are you to hit the shaft or the ground! Fire!'' As soon as the words leave her mouth, the warship deploys four stern missile tubes, hurtling towards their target. The effort is proven to be futile as The CGUE darted to the left, avoiding the first missile, and quickly shot it down. Grunting at the remaining, Rau dashes for cover behind the support beams of the colony. Two shots end up colliding on the support beam, and the explosion that follows is enough to take out the last missile. With that done, he quickly makes his way back to Kira and the others. Miriallia cowers at the weakened colony cables threatening to break. Needless to say, Tolle quickly comes to her comfort, gripping his hand tightly around her shoulder.  
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Cagalli mutters at the damage. Having seen enough, Kira prepares his beam cannon and takes out the targeting device. Without a second thought, he pulls the trigger.  
"Wait that's too-!'' Murrue tries to call out to the civilian pilot, but her words come moments too late as a concentrated red streak of light rushes at the CGUE. The shot connects, ripping off its rifle arm, but it doesn't stop there. It continues whizzing straight upward and punches another huge hole in the colony. Kira looks on, mouth agape at the destruction he's caused. Taking this chance to flee, Rau flies through the hole, retreating from the scene.  
''How could they allow a mobile suit to have such firepower?'' he ponders aloud as he punches in a few keys.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Archangel**_

"The Enemy mobile suit is retreating!" Dalida informs. Natarle eases into her seat and sighs at the news. Soon after, she gives her commands.  
''We're landing, adjust speed to match ground rotation. Be cautious of gravity kicking in."

* * *

 ** _Inside the Nazca-class ship_** **_Vesalius_**

Outside the Colony, the Zaft ships are gathering, one of them containing the stolen Aegis Gundam. Inside its cockpit is none other than its thief, Athrun, calibrating the machine. Even when tasked with this, he fails to stop his mind from wandering off to what happened earlier. Could it be just two guys that looked a lot like them? No, that couldn't be right, they seemed to recognize him. Athrun was so consumed in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the collective gasps of the engineers. Like a school boy caught dozing off, he quickly brings his head up.  
''Sorry! I started working on that too by mistake!''  
''Oh, i-it's fine! We're done with the external check and the recharging. What about you?'' They ask.  
''I'm done too. I can't help but wonder how the Earth Alliance manage with the OS..'' He responded. His musings were shortly lived ass the panicked shrieks of the alarm grab his attention.  
''Commander Le Creuset has returned! There's damage from a direct hit. Fire fighting and relief squads to B Deck-" Seconds after this is said, the launch pad is opened and the mobile suit in question falls in. Its collapse is just barely stopped by a group of safety wires. Everyone gasps in shock at its condition.  
''The commander's unit has lost an arm!''  
-''Begin cooling armor!'' A loud hiss can be heard as the mobile suit exhales steam from the chest.  
''How'd that happen?...but if it was against him...'' The bluenette muses to himself. After a few minutes, he shakes his head. He couldn't allow himself to continue on like this. It seemed like there would be no rest for him until he confirmed it himself.

* * *

 **The** **_Outside_**

The Strike kneels on the launch catapult with the Moebius Zero nearby on top. Kira lowers the Strike's hands with his friends on board to the ground. Once they get off and are on the ground, they rush to Murrue. Whatever they were about to say dies in their throats as they turn their attention to the new people running towards them. In the front is a woman with short jet black hair. While her face remains stern, her violet eyes soften slightly in relief.  
"Lieutenant Ramius," Natarle acknowledges.  
"Ensign Badgiruel." She replies likewise. Saluting, Natarle speaks again.  
"I'm relieved to see you're alive and well."  
Murrue's expression softens and she gives her a small smile as she replies, "Same to you. I'm glad to see you protected the Archangel. You saved us."  
Meanwhile, Kira crawls out of the now opened cockpit of the Strike and looks down to see the newly arrived bridge crew gawking at him. With a cautious expression, Kira lowers himself down on the cable string. Amongst the newcomers, a tall middle-aged mechanic voices the comments of everyone there.  
"What's going on? He's only a kid! You're telling me he piloted the thing?" Jackie faces him, silently agreeing. Moments after Kira's grounded, he's swarmed by his friends, concern written all over their faces. Tearing her gaze away from the sight, Natarle shifts her attention to Murrue.  
"Lieutenant Ramius, what's going on?"  
Murrue perks up a bit at the question. In all honesty, she had forgotten about the situation with the kid. He was….talented enough for her to forget. Frowning at the thought, she looks down to the ground and is about to reply, but another's voice cuts her off.  
"Well this is a surprise," Mu says, walking over to the group. "I'm lieutenant Mu la Flaga of the 7th Orbital Fleet." he salutes, before continuing.  
"Nice to meet you."  
Natarle and Murrue salute back. Murrue introduces herself first.  
"I'm Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of sector 2, 5th special division."  
Natarle speaks soon after. "Ensign Natarle Badgiruel of the same division!"  
Dropping his hand to his sides, Mu speaks.  
"I'd like Authorization to board this ship. Who's in charge?"  
Murrue and Natarle glance at each other before Natarle speaks first.  
"The Captain and top officers of this ship are dead. So by process of elimination, I believe Lieutenant Ramius is now in the position of that responsibility." Wide-eyed, Murrue now turns to face Natarle completely. Ignoring this, she continues.  
"Only a dozen or so of us were able to survive, but most are non-commissioned officers. Fortunately for me, I was in the shaft and was able to escape danger."  
A skeptical Murrue asks, "The Captain? How could that be?"  
At this point, Mu chimes in again.  
"Oh, man. This certainly is a disaster," he says slightly irritated. Getting back on topic, he continues.  
"In any case, please give me permission, lieutenant Ramius. The ship I came in was shot down."  
"Ah, sure. I grant you permission," Murrue declares.  
Now turning his attention towards Kira and his friends, he asks, "Who's that?"  
Also turning her attention to them, Murrue replies, "As you can see, he's a civilian teenager."  
Noticing the shifted focus, Kira and Cagalli tense up, staring somberly at the two. Ignoring this, Murrue continues.  
"For some reason, he was in the factory district while we were under attack and I let him on the Gundam. His name is Kira Yamato."  
Mu turns around, smiling at Kira.  
"Th-Thanks to him, we were able to fight off a GINN and protect this one machine," She abashedly admits. Turning her head at this, Natarle chimes in once more.  
"Fight off a GINN? Him?"  
This is followed by the silent ramblings of the rest of the bridge. Now wearing a serious face on his features, Mu asks, "I came here as an escort to the young pilots trained to ride that. Where are they?"  
"We were bombed while they were in the control booth being welcomed by the captain," Natarle informs. Mu's expression sobered up, slightly lowering his head at the news.  
"I see..damn, Rena's gonna kill me."  
Bringing his head up, Mu once again shifts his focus on the boy in front of him and makes his way to him. Everyone looks up at Mu, and Cagalli glares cautiously at the approaching man and the bridge crew following before them. Kira's expression shifts to one of worry as he nervously asks, "Wh-What is it?"  
smiling knowingly all the while, Mu replies, "You're a coordinator, aren't you?"  
Suddenly, the atmosphere goes cold and everyone tenses up. While initially taken aback at the question, Kira regains his composure after a few seconds and says his reply.  
"Yes."  
No sooner than that's said, everyone turns their heads to the sound of a rifle being cocked by a soldier. Glaring in the direction of the soldier, Tolle steps in front of Kira, much to the young coordinator's surprise.

 ** _In_** **_the_** **_Control_** **_Bridge_** **_of_** **_the_** **_Vesalius_**

Athrun, Miguel, and a few other green coats float across from their commander. The gray room does well to reflect the mood in the place. They've all gathered around the hologram channel table.  
"You sure saved my neck by bringing this back, Miguel," Rau says, looking at the main screen. It's displaying footage of his battle with the Strike. "Otherwise, I'd have been a laughing stock, getting my unit damaged in a battle against mobile suits of the Earth Forces, no matter what I say."  
He turns his attention to the men floating across from him.  
"You're all already aware of the situation with the original OS. Given that fact, I think it'd be safe to assume they had some special help."  
"You don't mean..?" Miguel asks.  
"Yes...They had a coordinator to work on the last one. It's the only explanation I can think of for why that unit was able to move so well," Rau confirms.  
Everyone around the table makes an affirmative nod at this. Continuing, he says, "In any case, It's clear we cannot afford to leave it in their hands and ignore the situation!"  
At this, the expressions of the men in front of him sober up. Rau now gives his orders.  
"If we cannot capture it, we shall destroy it here and now, along with its ship. Don't underestimate them."  
As the masked man finished, he saluted to his cadets.  
"Yes, sir!" The bluenette and his comrades reply, returning with a salute of their own.  
Ades turns his attention to the two GINN pilots as he gives his orders.  
"Miguel! Olor! Prepare to take off at once! Authorization has been granted to mount the D-equipment! This time, make sure you put an end to them!"  
"Yes, sir!" the two replied as they floated towards the door.  
Athrun eyes dart to his leaving friends before they fall back to the captain. The bluenette begins to speak up as he floated close to him.  
"Captain Ades! Please allow me to sortie as well!"  
The Captain turns towards him as the masked Commander begins to speak again.  
"But you have no machine. Besides, you have already completed the important mission of capturing one of those units."  
"But…" As Athrun tries to speak, Captain Ades chimes in.  
"Let the others go this time, Zala. Miguel and Olor have a stronger case, given the humiliation they incurred."  
Hearing this, Athrun turns his head as his face contorts to one of frustration and seriousness.

* * *

 ** _In the Hangar Bay of the Archangel_**

By now, every one of Kira's friends had surrounded him. Not a single soul dared to move, much less break the silence. After a few moments of this, Tolle takes it upon himself to start talking. "Wh-What do you think you're doing?" He inquires, timid but sternly. "He may be a coordinator, but Kira isn't an enemy!"  
''Didn't you see that HE was the one who protected this ship?! You've gotta be outta your mind to believe that he is the enemy!'' A furious Cagalli pointed out.  
''They're right, lower your weapons!" Ramius states in agreement.  
Hearing that, the crew members reluctantly lower their weapons, their faces still full of disgust. Seeing these events unfold, a confused Natarle exclaims,''Lieutenant Ramius! Explain yourself!''  
Giving her a gentle smile, she responds.  
''Well, it's quite obvious. The Heliopolis colony belongs to a neutral state, so it's only natural that both coordinators and naturals that want to avoid getting themselves involved in a war would come here... Am I wrong, Kira?''  
''Uh, no. You're completely correct,'' He replied, equally surprised and relieved at how well this was going.  
''Well, I apologize for causing such a stir. After seeing his combat abilities I was just curious, that's all," Mu says. With that said, he turned around, looking up to the now dormant kneeling mobile suit.  
''Lieutenant! Where to now?" Natarle asked. Glancing in her direction, he smiles in spite of the situation and says, "Where to? I landed here after being shot down and the team waiting outside is Le Creuset's."  
Everyone stares at him, mouth agape at the mention of the name. Ignoring this, he continues. "He's one persistent fellow. If you ask me, I don't think we can afford to spend any more time here''

* * *

 ** _Inside the Laurasia-class ship Gamow - at the launching deck-_**

''Operation commences at 0100. Matthew, proceed at standby position!''  
Inside the waiting room and anticipating the launch are the three ZAFT reds, Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol, watching the GINNs through a window as they get equipped.  
''D-Equipment, I hear. Does Commander Le Creuset plan to capture a fortress or something?'' Dearka asked, bemused by the serious measures taken for such a mission.  
''But what'll happen to the colony?" a worried Nicol asks.  
''Heh, can't really be helped now, can it?" Yzak replies thoughtlessly as he leans back into the couch and lets his drink float around in the near weightless room. "It's what they deserve for calling themselves a 'neutral state' while slipping mobile suits to the Atlantic Federation.''  
Nicoll allows himself a sigh. In spite of all the events that occurred, he still doesn't want to get civilians harmed by this.

* * *

 ** _Archangel_**

Meanwhile, on the ground, things have quieted down considerably. A busy attitude can be felt all throughout the ship. Supply trucks are being driven up one by one while the crew of the Archangel discussed amongst themselves what their next move will be.  
"We've no choice but to bring water from Morgenroete!" Romero says to a worker.  
Elsewhere on the hangar, engineers and mechanics alike are set to work on the Strike. Using the mobile suit level pad, they inspect mostly the upper half of the mobile suit.  
"Our top priority is to load parts and ammunition for the Strike," Murdock shouts to the workers. "Hurry!"  
Moments after that's said, a worker comes in.  
"Petty Officer Murdock! Look here!"

* * *

 ** _In the Resting Quarters_**

Kira rests on the top bunk of the bed with Tolle on the bottom, incredibly exhausted from the events that have transpired recently. Cagalli sits across from him in another bed, smiling gently at the boy. At this point, Kuzzy speaks casually, or at least as casually as he can considering what he's just been through as he leans against Cagalli's bunk.  
"I'm surprised he can sleep in this situation."  
"He's tired," Miriallia starts, looking up to the sleeping coordinator in question. "It's been tough for Kira, you know."  
Sai's eyes are fixed on the ground in troubled wistfulness as he fiddles with his hands. He seems in his own world, blocking out everyone as he sits on the ground. The same could be said for Tolle. This momentary silence is once again broken by Kuzzy. He smiles ruefully as he says, "It was tough? I guess that's true, but…" he pauses. Looking up at him, Sai asks, "what are you getting at, Kuzzy?"  
Looking up with that sad smile still plastered on his face, he replies.  
"It's nothing. Just that in Kira's case, we can only say 'it was tough for him,' and that's it. Kira said he re-wrote the OS for that thing, right?" turning his head to face the others, he continues in his askings."When did he do that?"  
At this point, Cagalli chimes in. "Believe it or not," she started. "He started doing it about the time you and the others were almost crushed. What of it?"  
He looks at the blonde, taken aback for a few moments before returning to his initial position. He replies, "even as a technician, I can't imagine him having any prior knowledge about that thing. So, what does it mean that he was able to rewrite it?"  
Everyone goes back to their thoughts for a while after that's said. Speaking up again, Cagalli says, "It means he's smart…. and besides, it's not like he didn't have help."  
At that final part, everyone turns their heads to Cagalli.  
"So you helped rewrite that thing?" Miriallia asks incredulously.  
"Yes. The OS was...oddly familiar," she replies. In a solemn tone, Kuzzy speaks again.  
"I figured Kira was a coordinator...to think that a guy genetically enhanced can do such things, but for him, it's just 'tough'. And to think the guys at ZAFT are all like that….." He looks to the side with his ever so rueful smile of his. "The Earth forces stand no chance, do they?"  
At that, the room is once again returned to solemn silence.

* * *

 ** _On The Control Bridge_**

An exasperated sigh escapes Murrue's lips as she places a phone down. She's now garbed in the red, white, and browns of the captain's uniform.  
"I'm told that the colony interior is almost entirely evacuated," She starts, as she swivels the captain's seat around and faces Mu and Natarle. "But with that last incident, the alert level is up to nine."  
"Which means the shelters have been completely locked," Mu states as he crosses his arms. "So what will we do with those kids? It's too late to find a shelter to throw them into, isn't it?"  
"Lieutenant Ramius detained those children due to the fact that they'd seen a military secret," Natarle responds as she stands up beside Murrue. "So we can't exactly let them go."  
"So you're having them join us on our escape? After we leave this place, we can expect to be in for some heavy fighting," Mu shot back.  
At this point, Murrue finally chimes in.  
"I'm thinking that we'll need to rely on the strengths of the Strike."  
"You're planning on using that in combat again?" Natarle asks.  
"How do you expect us to escape otherwise?" Murrue asks rhetorically. Natarle goes silent at this as Mu speaks again.  
"Has the kid agreed to it?"  
Turning her attention to him, Natarle asks, "why don't you pilot it this time, Lieutenant La Flaga?"  
Incredulity taking over his features, he replies.  
"Don't be silly. There's no way I can operate that the thing!"  
At this, she lets out a confused gasp, but her expression returns to its typical seriousness as Mu continues.  
"Haven't you seen the OS that the kid told us he rewrote? It'd be impossible for me to handle something that complex."  
"Then have him change it back to…." Natarle pauses and then speaks again.  
"In any case, we can't have a civilian, a child coordinator of all people, pilot such important machinery."  
With a rueful smile, Mu replies, "Then should we go out and be an easy target for them?"  
Both women sigh in response. This was going to be difficult.

* * *

 ** _Outside the Colony where the Nazca-class ship is stationed_**

As one of the GINN's leaves the Vesalius with a pair of huge missile launchers, a speaker from the bridge begins to order the next pilot to sortie, while the gray Aegis stands to the side. "Olor unit takeoff complete. Miguel, to the catapult". The blonde young pilot brings his GINN to the catapult, armed with a heavy particle cannon. However, this GINN was different from the rest as this mobile suit was orange and carrying a cross bone insignia on its right shoulder. With a few final adjustments to his suit, Miguel launches from the ship.  
"Close the hatch!" one of the maintenance crew shouted.  
Before they could, however, one particular ZAFT red started up the Aegis and began walking to the catapult.  
"What's going on? Is that thing going out, too? Nobody told me," One of the maintenance crew said as the Aegis launched from the Vesalius.  
On the bridge, the Captain and the Commander were altered on what just happened.  
"What? Athrun Zala has taken off in a captured unit?" Captain Ades asked.  
Commander Le Creuset floats near the windows as Captain Ades barks out his orders.  
"Call him back! Order him back to the ship!  
Turning to face him, Rau replies, "let him go. We've already gotten the data extracted."  
He smirks a little before continuing.  
"Besides, this might prove to be interesting….a battle pitting Earth Forces mobile suits against each other, that is."  
With that said, he returns to gazing out the window.

* * *

 ** _On the Command Bridge of the Archangel_**

The loud static of a radio telegraph fills in the silence of the bridge.  
"Electrical interference throughout the colony! N-Jammer levels rising!" Dalida shouted.  
Swiveling her chair around to face him, Natarle replies, "What?"  
Mu rises from his seat, frustration written all over his features, begins to speak.  
"It seems that he has no intention of waiting around 'til we get out of here. That bastard!"  
Natarle turns her head and faces the blonde mobile armor pilot.  
"Do they intend to hit us again within Heliopolis?"  
Mu smiles back and replies, "Easy for them! We can't fire, but they sure as hell can!"

* * *

Kira's friends watch solemnly from the entrance of the resting quarters as he responds to Murrue's demands.

"I won't do it!" He says firmly. "Please don't drag us into your battles more than you already have!"  
While initially taken aback, Murrue's expression softens at the boy's response. She figured this wouldn't be easy.  
"Kira…"  
"What you say about this war may be correct, but we disagree with it nonetheless!" he continues. "That's why we chose to live in a neutral territory!" As he continues, his head begins to droop down, sorrow and anger plastered all over his face "yet you..-"  
At that moment, everyone turned their heads to the slightly static voice of Mu.  
"Lieutenant Ramius! Come to the bridge at once!"  
Murrue walks over to a communications machine and presses a button. The screen displays the words, 'SOUND ONLY' as she talks through the speaker.  
"What's the problem?"  
"There are mobile suits approaching!" He explains.  
Everyone standing at the entrance plus Kira gasps at this news.  
"Hurry up and take command! You're the captain, after all," Mu states.  
At this, the woman perks up a bit.  
"I am?"  
To be honest, she was still wrapping her mind around the subject of becoming Captain of an entire ship in just a few hours, along with everything else.  
"I may have seniority, but I don't know a thing about this ship!" Mu states to her.  
Murrue's expression becomes crestfallen as she replies softly, "I understand."  
After a few moments, her expression shifts to one expected of a leader as she gives out her orders.  
"Prepare the Archangel for takeoff! All hands to level one battle stations! What about your mobile armor?"  
"It's not ready yet!"  
"Then please take charge of the CIC, Lieutenant La Flaga"  
And with that, the communications machine turns off with a quiet beep. Turning around, she faces the kids.  
"It's like you guys heard. We're entering another battle. With a level 9 alert for the shelters, I can't let any of you off the ship."  
Walking over to Kira's friends, she continues. "If we can somehow overcome this situation and escape Heliopolis…"  
Mirrallia looks over to Tolle, softly saying the boy's name as he takes her hand into his and grips it securely. Meanwhile, Kira is seething, clenching his fists. Could Naturals do anything without the assistance of others? But regardless of whether or not he was better, he would still be fighting against others with more experience. The first time, he could be considered lucky for only facing one. What if they decide to bring back up? What if he dies? What if-  
"I'll do it."  
Kira's eye widen to the size of saucers as he turns to Cagalli, unable to wipe off the disbelief on his face. Turing to him, Cagalli speaks.  
"I _did_ help rewrite at least half of the OS on that thing. I should be able to pilot it."  
Kira's eyes boggle as his mind drifts off to his first battle in the Strike, or more specifically, what happened to Cagalli. Murrue shifts hesitant eyes to the blonde.  
"If you're sure you can handle it, then-"  
"You people aren't fair!" Kira finally exclaims, his voice filled with frustration.  
Murrue turns to the boy, muttering his name softly.  
"I'll do it."

* * *

With a soft purr, the engines are reignited as the Archangel makes its way upward, leaving a huge gust of white smoke in its tracks.

"Our top priority is to escape Heliopolis," Murrue starts, seated in the Captain's chair. "Be careful not to damage the colony during battle."  
"That's impossible.." Jackie mutters under his breath.  
On the Hangar, the gray Strike walks slowly over to the catapult before standing still. A good distance away from this, Murdock gives out his orders.  
"Open number three container! Attach the sword striker!"  
As soon as that's said, the ceiling above and the walls beside the Strike shift, unveiling themselves. Small crane like devices surfaced out of them, holding the striker parts and attaching them to the mobile suit. Now that the suit's been armed, Kira looks around, checking things. Looking at the data of the Strike, he sees the other variants. 'A sword striker, huh? Odds are this won't happen again.'  
The Strike is once again garbed in color as Kira turns on the power.

* * *

 ** _On the Archangel Bridge_**

The radar screen beeps two times before displaying a mobile suits' data and footage.  
"One heat source approaching. Thermal pattern….it's a GINN!"  
"What are they thinking, using such heavy bombing equipment?" Mu asks incredulously. "Are they really planning on using that here?"  
As if to answer his question, a huge explosion tore through the colony, leaving a gaping hole, as two GINNS sporting large missiles flew through it. Back on the bridge, Jackie informs the crew of the situation.  
"A separate team is approaching from the Tannenbaum district...and one of them appears to be orange?" he informs.  
"Well, well, looks like the 'Magic Bullet of Dusk' has decided to come out and play. great," Mu grumbles to no one in particular.  
"Send out the Strike!" Natarle ordered.  
Meanwhile, one crimson mobile suit zooms into the colony. Jackie gasps as he reads the thermal detection system.  
"One of them is the X303 Aegis!" he exclaims, much to Mu's displeasure, and Murrue and Natarle's surprise. To any outsider with two licks of common sense, this was going to be a massacre.

* * *

 _ **In the Launch Bay of the Archangel**_

The Strike, now on the catapult, crouches as the go signals flare up. With the path ahead now illuminated with several small orange and green lights, the mobile suit launches out of the hexagonal room.

* * *

"They're already sending it back out in an actual battle?" Murrue asks to no one in particular.

Turning to face the captain, Mu says, "Right now it's an enemy! You wanna be sunk by it?"  
At this point, Natarle speaks her orders.  
"Prepare to fire Korinthos! Direct laser designator at the GINN!"  
Murrue turns her head, facing Natarle.  
"Projectile weapons are useless against phase shift armor!"  
Continuing on, Natarle says, "Link laser to main canons! Fire at will!"  
Atop the Knees of the ship, a pair of double-barreled turret cannons rise. The barrels extend before aiming upwards at the approaching foes. It breathes in before releasing two large streaks of green light. It misses its target, however, as the small group scatters away from the shot. In the front is none other than Miguel Aiman, who gives out their orders.  
"Olor and Matthew, Focus on the warship!" with that said, he now turns his attention to the Aegis following closely beside him.  
"Athrun! You came here against orders! Now show us some of that spirit!"  
Athrun blankly replies, "sure" at him in response as his screen picks up and displays the Strike emerging from the Archangel.

 _ **In the Resting Quarters of the Archangel**_

"Hey! We can see what's going on here through the monitor over there!" one of the civilians cries aloud. Overhearing this, Kira's friends rush out of the resting quarters and into the break room. Cagalli gasps as she notices the Aegis.  
'Athrun, is that really you?'

* * *

The Strike pulls out its "Schwert Gewehr" Anti-ship sword and activates the laser edge as Miguel aims his rifle at it. The two circle each other for a moment before Miguel cries out, "Fall!"

With that said, he fires a concentrated but much smaller streak of lime-colored light at the Strike. Kira flies upward a bit, missing the blow by inches, and it hits the colony support beam instead. It shrieks softly before finally tearing apart and the lower bar with it comes crashing down, breaking several homes and leaving behind a huge trail of dust. In the break room, Kira's friends gasp at the destruction, and Cagalli glares at the image, clenching her fists until they turn white. Kira's reaction isn't much better, but he quickly turns his attention back to Miguel's orange GINN, which has now taken another shot at him. He manages to side dash, barely evading the second shot. Miguel tries one more shot, which the Strike actually manages to block with its small left-hand shield.

* * *

Meanwhile, the two GINNS swoop down to the Archangel, easily avoiding bullets all the while. Having gotten in close enough, one fired all three of its leg mounted "Pardus" missiles. The Archangel manages to shoot two of them down, but the third swerves away from the fire and hits the ship at the side, slightly rattling it and it's inhabitants. In the bridge, Arnold informs every one of the ship's current condition.  
"Number four weapons bank has been hit! Seal off bulkheads!"  
In the hangar, Murdock swears as he and a fellow co-workers grasp onto whatever's closest to them.  
The GINNS continue their assault, finally firing their four large arm-mounted missiles. In the bridge, Natarle gives out her orders.  
"Intercept them!"  
One of the bridge crew replies, "There's not enough time!"  
At this point, Mu chimes in.  
"Give me manual targeting control!"  
Murrue gives out her orders as well.  
"Starboard forty degrees! Full speed!"  
With that said, the Archangel side swerves downward, avoiding the missiles that explode around them. One, in particular, hits the colony's support beams carrying the shelters. With worry written all over their faces, one of the Heliopolis civilians asks the question on everybody's minds.  
"Has another battle started?"  
As if to answer his question, the room turns red and a computerized voice speaks.  
The alert level has been raised to ten. There is a chance that this shelter may be ejected as a lifeboat. All persons are to fasten their seatbelts!

* * *

''It's tough! Get behind him, Athrun!'' Miguel shouted.

With that said, the Aegis starts to close on the Sword Strike.  
''Could that really be Athrun?" Kira ponders to himself. He is quickly interrupted by Aegis's charge, making Kira back away. Taking advantage of the Strike's preoccupation, Miguel flies above them and fires another shot.  
While Kira manages to fly away from most of the blast and avoid major harm, the leg is grazed by it and the shot continues on before finally hitting a house.  
Kira doesn't even have time to recollect himself as the Aegis, having circled behind him, kicks the Sword Strike down, making it almost crash into the city. It is only thanks to the sheer tenacity of the mobile suit and the colony's overall weightlessness that Kira manages to stabilize the Strike and fly up again. He then grabs and throws his shoulder mounted flash edge boomerang towards Athrun. While initially taken aback, he quickly darts aside from the attack and shoots it down with his CIWS when it comes back, but by the time he redirects his focus back to Strike, it has already gone after the GINN. With a roar, Kira rushes to Miguel, CIWS blazing. The blonde pilot manages to avoid them for a bit but he is eventually caught in the stream, making him stagger back. Taking advantage of this, the Sword Strike dashes, this time closing the distance between them completely and swings his blade, cutting the mobile suit diagonally.  
The Aegis hovers in place a good distance from the scene. Athrun looks on in horror, shocked to see an old friend killing his comrade. He would never have imagined this happening in his worst dreams.  
''Miguel!'' Athrun shouts in equal anger and sorrow. At the same time, Mu aims the Archangel's weapons, intercepting a few remaining missiles before turning his attention to the GINNS. Narrowing his eyes at one trying to flee,he pulls the trigger. The GINN is hit, leaving a huge explosion, leading to another problem. The flames lunge at the colony, inflaming it. Mu swears and Murrue stands from her seat, her eyes wide as saucers. Electric shocks stream down the support beam with small explosions following close behind as the final GINN hovers about, watching the destruction.  
"Olor! Dammit!"  
With that said, the GINN flies off. In the bridge, Murrue gives out her orders to the bridge.  
"We can't afford to cause any more damage to the colony!"  
Turning to face her, Natarle replies, "Then what do you suggest we do? Let them sink us?"  
The two women glare at each other, ignoring the stares of everyone else.

* * *

The Strike and Aegis hover about, ignoring the collapsing land around them. In the cockpit of the Strike, the comm link blares to life as Natarle begins to speak.

"Strike! What are you doing? We're under attack by the enemy here!"  
In the Aegis, things aren't much different.  
"Athrun, where are you?" Captain Ades asks, urgency in his voice. Both pilots remain silent as Kira once again pulls out his Schwert Gewehr. The Aegis fires up its thrusters in response, dashing towards the Strike. Kira does likewise. The two pass each other, neither daring to start the battle they knew to be inevitable. Moments after passing each other, they both stop and face their opponent...or friend. Whatever they were now. Breaking the silence, Athrun speaks.  
"Kira! Kira Yamato!"  
The boy in question gasps at the voice. Acknowledging the response, Athrun continues, furrowing his brows a bit.  
"So it is you, after all."  
"Athrun..Athrun Zala!"

* * *

At that very moment, the Archangel fired its beam turrets once more, taking out the final GINN. Before dying, however, the pilot lets out a passionate roar and fires his Pardus. Unfortunately, the missiles miss their target and once again hit the support beams. Everyone, from civilian to soldier has stares,mouth agape at the destruction.

* * *

Raising his voice, Kira speaks, urgency in his tone.

"Why? Why are you here?"  
"That's what I wanna know! What are you doing piloting that thing?!" Athrun replied, raising his rifle.

* * *

The beams supporting the colony all plunge to the ground. The following impact results in even more holes..no. A hole doesn't begin to describe it, but in all honesty, a hole would have been preferable. This was far, far worse. In the lifeboat, the computerized voice speaks again, much to everyone's concern and fear.

'Compulsory evacuation orders are now in effect'  
With that final line, all the lifeboats fly out of the damaged and crumbling colony. This, however, does not go by unnoticed by a certain Nazca-class ship. Standing from his seat, an awestruck Ades mutters the masked commander's name. Rau doesn't lift his gaze from the digital scene, choosing to remain in solemn silence.

* * *

The Archangel rocks back and forth as the hefty gust of Space comes its way. Kira lets out a strangled yell as the Strike struggles in vain to stay in place, before being greedily sucked into the vacuum of space. Yelling his name, Athrun pushes the thrusters of the Aegis, following suit. In the break room, Cagalli watches the scene unfold, a maelstrom of emotion flashing in her eyes.


	4. PHASE 4 Silent Run

In the cockpit communication radio, the pressing voice of Natarle can be heard, if you aren't in a state of total disbelief and shock, that is.

"X105 Strike! Please respond! X105, please respond!"

Natarle continues like a broken record, trying to grab ahold of a certain young pilot. Her words fall on deaf ears as the boy looks at the location of his had been home, unmoving, save for the clenching and unclenching of the controls.

' _Heliopolis….destroyed? Why?'_

* * *

Miriallia separates herself from Tolle's embrace as the screams of the alarm vanish. Kuzzey, on the other hand, is still crouching with his eyes shut tight and his hands clutching his head. Cagalli and Sai look at the main screen, gawking at the destruction. In the bridge, Mu floats towards the screen.

"Amazing how simple...how fragile it was"

Murrue balls up her hands into fists at this, seething and sorrowing silently. Meanwhile, Natarle continues her attempts at reaching the Strike and its pilot.

"X105 Strike! X105 Strike! Kira Yamato! If you're alright, if you can hear me, please respond!"

The brunette gasps at the mention of his name. Now shaken out of his stupor, he presses a button.

"X105 Strike, Kira here."

At hearing the reply she so desperately called out for, Natarle allows herself a small sigh before responding.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," The young brunette replies.

"Do you know our position?"

"Yes."

"Then please return. Can you do that?" She questioned.

Another yes, and Kira looks upward, facing the tunnel of debris in front of him. A newfound seriousness returns to the boy's face as he thinks of his family.

' _Mom, Dad, please be safe.'_

Before he can lament on the issue anymore, his attention is caught by the beeping of the cockpit. He looks around a bit before spotting a blinking red light. What's attached to this red light, however, is more interesting.

"A Heliopolis lifeboat!" he says to no one. Returning his sword to the back, Kira flies over to the lifeboat.

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Archangel_**

Turning over to face Murrue, Mu asks, "What are you planning to do now?"

"Our ship is still in battle," she starts before turning to face the crew behind her. "Can you detect the ZAFT ships' movement?"

"Impossible," Romero replies. "There are too many heat sources among the debris, so laser and thermal detectors are of little use here."

Murrue turns backs around and hangs her head solemnly at the news.

"It's the same for them," Mu says the captain's head shoots up at this. Continuing, he says, "You expect they'll come after us?"

"I think we should move based on that assumption, though if they attacked us now, we'd be finished."

Mu smiles a grim smile and closes his eyes as he replies. "I know. All we have is the Strike and my damaged Zero. Not to mention how understaffed this ship is. We're in no position to fight. Shall we sail at maximum speed to shake them off?"

Having long since opened his eyes again, he adds, "This is quite the speedy ship to my understanding."

"Their Nazca Class is a high-speed type as well," Murrue replies, narrowing her eyes at the man before her. "There's no guarantee we can shake them off."

"Then shall we surrender?" The blonde man asks.

Murrue lets out a confused gasp at this, but quickly regains her composure as Mu continues.

"That's also an option, you know."

"What did you say?" Murrue replies. At this point, Natarle speaks up, but to neither of the two talking.

"Wait a minute! Who gave you authorization?"

Noticing her obvious distress, Murrue faces the ensign.

"What is it, Natarle?"

Facing her now, she replies.

"The Strike has returned, but with a lifeboat."

Mu and Murrue glance each other's way in confusion and surprise. On the outside, the Strike hovers in place, now holding the lifeboat in front of it with both hands.

"What do you mean you can't accept it? The propulsion system is broken and it's drifting out of control! Are you telling me to throw this out? People who have evacuated are on this ship!"

Now at the Captain's side, Natarle addresses the boy.

"Reinforcements will be here right away, but the Archangel is fighting a battle! There's no way we can accept refugees!"

Shutting her eyes, Murrue chimes in. "It's alright. I authorize it."

"Captain!" Natarle exclaims. Reopening her eyes, Murrue responds sternly.

"I don't want to waste time arguing over such things. Bring it quickly!"

Natarle salutes with a "yes captain" but it was obvious how she felt about it.

* * *

As the Strike hovers and finally lands in the ship, Murrue continues with her statements. "I understand the severity of our situation," she starts. "But I have no intention of surrendering."

Now in his seat, Mu turns to face the captain with the rest of the crew. Continuing with finality in her voice, she says, "There's no way I'm going to hand over this ship or the Strike to ZAFT. We've got to take them to the Atlantic Federation headquarters in one piece, no matter the cost!"

"Captain, I suggest we make our way to Artemis." Natarle implied.

"Artemis? That's a Eurasian military satellite, isn't it?" Murrue asks.

At this point, Mu chimes in.

"Artemis and its umbrella"

Natarle nods in response before looking up at the space map on the screen.

"From our present location, it's the easiest allied forces location to get to."

"You realize that we're in a situation where neither G-weapons nor this ship has a recognition code acknowledged by allied forces. Would Eurasia…?" Murrue asks.

"I'm aware that the Archangel and the Strike are both regarded as top military secrets of the Atlantic Federation," Natarle starts, once again looking to the screen map, which displays arrows pointing to the possible routes to be taken. "However, should we set our course to the moon, you can't easily expect us to get there easily without confrontation. " As she says this, one small arrow points to the location of Artemis, locking on with a small beep and turning red. "Also, we left without sufficient provisions, we're in dire need of supplies," she adds.

"I know that," Murrue says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm sure that Eurasia will understand our situation. As things are, the most realistic measures would be to avoid confrontation would be to replenish at Artemis, and try to contact the lunar headquarters from there."

"Artemis, huh? I wonder if things will go as smooth as we hope," Mu says to no one in particular.

Raising her head to the screen now, Murrue responds.

"However, it seems to be our only option."

By the time the Captain finished her discussion with her cohorts, the gray depowered Strike stood docked in the hangar bay. As the cockpit door opens, Kira steps out to see the lifeboat below he rescued earlier with two mechanic workers on top of the ceiling hatch waiting to see and help who comes out. As Kira looks on, he shockingly sees a familiar redhead girl leaving the boat. while the boy takes this in, the brunette's mechanical bird flies out of his shirt jacket to meet the girl. Now out of his daze, Kira jumps off the mobile suit to go chase it down.

"Birdy!"

As she hears the sound of the bird, Flay turns to the direction it came from and sees a familiar person chasing after it.

"It's you! You're Sai's friend! Kira Yamato!" With a happy smile on her face, she jumps forward to hug Kira.

"F-Flay!" the teen boy said in surprise as the teen girl hugged him.

"Is it really you, Flay Allster?" Kira asks with a red blushed face.

"Of course, it's me! Who else would it be? And why are you blushing?" Flay asks in confusion as she breaks away from the embrace and places her hands on his chest, while he holds her arms.

"Ah...n-nothing! Er-I mean, no reason! I mean-it's nothing," He said while Flay begins showering him with questions.

"Hey, what happened to Heliopolis? What happened there? What went on? Why was ZAFT attacking us?!"

The poor redhead is on the brink of tears. Kira looks at her with sorrow and begins filling her in on what happened.

"Well…...the Earth Forces were creating mobile suits in the colony. ZAFT found out and attacked. Due to the fighting, Heliopolis got destroyed."

"Why were the Earth Forces here in the first place? Doesn't the colony belong to Orb? Heliopolis was supposed to keep us safe from this foolish war!" She states with an angry and tearful expression.

"It was, and now we're in it whether we like it or not," Kira replies with a calming tone and decides to change the subject. "So you were in this boat. Where are the other girls that were with you?"

"I...I...I got separated...from Jessica and Misha in a store in Florence...and I ran to a shelter alone, and then…!" She paused as more tears came to her eyes, and after a little looking around the hangar she and Kira are in, her tears cease as she speaks again.

"This is a ZAFT ship, right? What's gonna happen to us? What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Th-This ship belongs to the Earth Forces."

"You're lying! There's a mobile suit on board!" Flay states in panic as she and Kira stare at the gray Gundam with Birdy flying around them. Next, Kira calmly speaks again.

"No, that also belongs to the Earth Forces. Remember the mobile suits ZAFT found out they were making? Well, this is one of them."

Flay turns toward Kira again, surprise and confusion obvious.

"B-But, boy am I glad to see again," he starts. "Sai and Miriallia are here, too. You'll be fine."

The girl believes him, and Kira lets out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding when a smile returns to the girl's face. He smiles likewise, completely unaware of the sharp pair of Amber eyes watching the scene closely by the rails.

* * *

 ** _Inside the ZAFT Nazca-class ship Vesalius_**

''Hmm….who would've expected this? What will you do now? The Council won't look lightly on a neutral nation's colony being destroyed,'' Ades inquires, sporting a worried expression.

''How can you call that colony _neutral_ when they were manufacturing weapons for the enemy?'' Rau replies calmly. Ades opens his mouth to say something in protest, but before he can, Rau continues, this time looking at the man.

''Besides, most residents have escaped, so we should be fine. It's nothing compared to the Bloody Valentine incident.''

At this, Ades straightens himself and shuts up, instead opting to narrow his eyes at the masked man, who has already flown off to one of the ship's operators.

''Can you get the position of the enemy's new warship?" Rau asks.

''No sir. Not with the present state of things," The operator replied.

''Do you still plan to go after them when we've lost our mobile suits?'' Captain Ades questioned.

''What do you mean?" Rau asked. ''We've still got the four we stole from the Earth forces, don't we?''

''Y-you suggest that we use **_those_ **? But..!''

Interrupting him once more, Rau replies to the captain's protests.

''Now that we're finished with the data extraction we can go ahead and use them as we see fit."

With that said, the masked man flies over to the hologram channel table and gives out his orders.

"Bring up a map of the region and send a message to the Gamow to expand its search radius."

While things were happening on the bridge, Athrun floats in the hallway. He stops by a nearby window a with a straightforward expression as he muttered the name of the boy that has always been on his mind since the calamity of Heliopolis. "Kira".

* * *

 ** _In the Lounge of the Archangel_**

Kira's friends all look in the direction of an opening door. Walking in are none other than the young coordinator himself, along with Flay. Everyone gasps at the sight of the familiar faces, with the exception of Cagalli, looking on with a neutral expression. Sai stands up as the redhead runs over to him with tears of joy. The poor boy can only give an awkward smile as the girl hugs him, sobbing into his shirt. Kira looks on at the scene with a sad smile, and Cagalli looks at him likewise. Cagalli then turns her attention to the girl, glaring at her. Of all the people that could have been on this ship, it had to be her. While Cagalli knew better than to jinx herself, she could not stop herself from thinking how this situation could possibly get any worse.

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Archangel_**

Everyone in the bridge sits in solemn silence as Murrue gives her orders and explains their plans.

"Prepare Decoy!," Murrue starts. "Upon firing, we'll start the main engines to adjust our course to Artemis. We'll then switch to inertial flight to avoid detection by the enemy! Take level two battle stations and finish checking the ship as quick as possible!"

"A silent run until we get to Artemis," Mu mutters thoughtfully. "That should take about two hours."

Resting his chin in his hands, he adds, "from this point on, we'll be relying on luck."

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Vesalius_**

"Perhaps because of the debris from the fallen Heliopolis colony, They've already left this area, unnoticed," Ades says as he looks at the hologram before him. Turning to face the Captain, Rau replies.

"No. We can rule that out. They're probably sitting very quietly somewhere."

With that said, he now looks down at the table, where one can see a digital map. It beeps a few times, filling in the silence as Rau thinks. Finally, Rau breaks the silence with a suggestion.

"How about we set up a net?"

Ades perks up at this, shifting his attention to the commander once more.

"'A net,' you say?"

* * *

 ** _With the Archangel_**

"Number three, fire decoy!" Natarle orders. Moments after the words leave her lips, the ship fires one missile from. The missile steers itself in front of the ship before rocketing away. It's not long before all you can see of the thing is a bright shining light.

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Vesalius_**

"The Vesalius will take off first and wait here for the enemy ship. Gamow will follow around the course, intersecting the orbit...searching for the enemy, staying hidden." Commander Rau explains his strategy to the captain and points out directions as the tactical map moves the arrows titled object Gamow and Vesalius accordingly.

"Are you saying that the legged ship is heading to Artemis? But what if it were to leave for the Moon?" Captain Ades asked with concern.

"Large heat source detected!" The operator shouted. Ades and Rau turned around and faced the man. "Information analysis estimated course...ship will swing by Earth and head for the Moon...to the Earth Forces Atlantic Federation headquarters. "

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Archangel_**

"Start main engines and adjust ship's course to Artemis!" Murrue orders. With that said, the Archangel swerves around. In the lounge, everyone gasps as the room quakes.

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Vesalius_**

"Commander!" Captain Ades shouted. Unfazed, the man replies.

"That's a decoy."

"But we should confirm with the Gamow, just in case," Ades replied as Rau leaped over to the space map in front of the bridge and spoke again.

"No. It will be heading to Artemis. I'm even more sure of that now. The Vesalius will set sail. Get Zelman online."

Meanwhile, in his resting quarters, Athrun lays down on his bed in a red uniform thinking to himself. His facial expression is one of sorrow as he floats from his bed due to the ship's sudden movements. He turns to see Rusty's uniform and belongings stacked on the other bed.

 _'Rusty! Miguel...!'_

Those were the two names he shouted in his head as he closed his eyes and turned the other direction.

* * *

 ** _On the Archangel_**

In the hallways, Jackie and two guards stand, as they register the Heliopolis citizens in the Archangel database. A rather large line has formed now, and at the moment, Jackie's signing in a middle-aged man.

The man hands Jackie his ID card which he runs through the data base and takes out. After giving the man his card back, he asks, "Are you a doctor?"

While initially surprised at the question, he replies with a yes.

"The Captain has injured her shoulder. Could you take a look at it?"

While all this is going on, Kira and company sit around quietly in the resting quarters. Taking the mantle of breaking the silence, Kuzzey speaks.

"I wonder where we're headed," he mused.

At this point, Sai chimes in. "They changed course once, didn't they? I wonder if ZAFT is still around."

Tolle speaks next.

"They're after the mobile suit, right? Maybe they're still after us," he says solemnly. Flay opens her mouth to say her complaints, but Cagalli beats her to it.

"Now what? They practically kidnap us, force Kira to pilot the thing, and they **_continue_ ** gambling our safety?!"

Everyone turns to Cagalli's direction, startled by the outburst.

"What?" she asks roughly, to which everyone says nothing or is silent. Soon enough, silence once again hangs over everyone. After a few moments, Miriallia speaks.

"At least we're not in a broken lifeboat, right?"

Flay closes up to Sai at the memory of the event. The boy allows himself a small smile as he wraps his arm around her shoulder comfortingly. Kira looks on with troubled eyes at the handfuls of civilians passing by.

"I hope my parents are alright," Kuzzy says.

"Evacuation orders were issued to all districts, so I'm sure they're okay," Sai replies with a comforting grin to his friend. Just then, the voice of Mu la Flaga interrupts them.

"Kira Yamato!"

"Y-yes?"

"Petty Officer Murdoch is furious. He doesn't have enough people and says you're responsible for maintaining your own machine," The blonde states.

"My machine? What do you mean about 'my machine?'' Kira asks him.

"Let's just say that's what's been decided," Mu replies.

Cagalli gnashes her teeth, glaring daggers at Mu while he continues.

"You're the only one capable of piloting that thing. It can't be helped."

"Sure, I rode the thing twice, but I had no other choice! I'm not a soldier!" The Coordinator argued.

Mu brings his hand to his shaking head before finding his words and speaking with that insufferable smile of his.

"So when the fighting starts again, you'll say that again. You'll refuse to pilot it, and we'll all die, right?"

At this, everyone gasps as their eyes widen.

"Right now, you and I are the only ones capable of protecting this ship."

Looking down, Kira opens his mouth to reply, but before he can word his protests, Mu speaks up again. With a more solemn look on his face, Mu continues, "You have the ability to make a difference, right?" Then put those abilities to use."

Soon after the words leave his mouth, his trademark smile as he continues. "We don't really have much time to think this over."

At this point, Sai chimes in.

"Excuse me, where is this ship heading?"

Already at the exit of the room, Mu turns back and answers.

"A Eurasian military fortress. Well, we'll be lucky if they let us in without incident."

Poor Kira runs out of the room soon after, unable to cope with everything happening. Tolle calls after him but is met with no response. Flay speaks up next.

"What? What's that supposed to mean? You mean Kira was on…?"

Facing her, Sai replies.

"You heard that a mobile suit carried your lifeboat to this ship, right? That guy, Kira, was piloting it."

"What? But why would he be in a mobile suit?" The redhead asked.

Cagalli grimaces as she prepares for the words that will undoubtedly come next. Looking away from the two, Kuzzey answers her.

"Because he's a coordinator."

Sai turns around, now facing him while Flay gasps. Tolle speaks up, angered by his friend's inconsideration.

"Kuzzey!"

Meanwhile, Sai turns away from Kuzzey, opting to stare at the ground. Flay looks at him expectantly, now having regained her composure.

"Kira is a coordinator, but he isn't with ZAFT," he says with clear loyalty as he looks towards an obviously worried Flay. Miriallia nods her head as she chimes in.

"He's one of us...a treasured friend."

Looking to the ground, Flay replies thoughtfully, "I see."

Just then, Tolle noticed a certain someone was missing.

"Hey, where's Cagalli?"

* * *

 ** _In the hangar of the Archangel_**

Kira looks up to the dormant Strike as he thinks back to what Mu said. Looking down, Kira thinks aloud, "I'm not a soldier! I can't fight a war!"  
The boy is on the brink of tears when he suddenly hears someone call his name. He looks to the entrance to see Cagalli panting on her knees. Kira looks on in awe and bemusement as he watches the girl straighten herself up. After a few moments of silence, their talk begins.  
"So..." They say simultaneously, before immediately stopping. More silence ensues until Cagalli finally breaks it.  
"Are you going to do it?" she asks.  
"I don't think there's much choice for me here, Cagalli," Kira replied.  
Hearing this, the blonde hangs her head for a moment before immediately bringing it back up and with newfound determination, walks over to a puzzled Kira. She reaches into her pocket and takes something out, concealing most of it with her clenched fist. Finally closing the gap between them, she grabs the brunette's hands, placing the item in them.  
"I was planning on giving you this for your graduation, but here."  
Now in his hands is a necklace pendant. The boy looks down at it in surprise, before looking back up at Cagalli. Averting her eyes from the baffled boy, she speaks again.  
"It was from my father," she started. "He said that if you wear it, you'll be safe. So-"  
Before she can finish, she's suddenly enveloped in Kira's arms. Cagalli gasps and struggles against it for a few seconds before eventually relaxing into the embrace.  
"Thank you, Caga."  
"What did I say about calling me that?" she said, but there was no real negativity in her words. Continuing, she says, "What are family for?" Hearing this, Kira laughs for what feels like the first time in centuries, before apologizing. The two spend several moments in content quiet before Cagalli breaks it once more.  
"Kira, be safe."  
"I'll be fine,"he says solemnly with that sad smile of his, tightening his grip on her. "I promise."

* * *

 ** _On the Vesalius_**

In his quarters, Commander Le Creuset types away on his computer until he hears someone outside knocking on his door.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"Athrun Zala. Reporting as requested."

"Right. Come in," The masked man replied as Athrun entered his office and saluted to him. Rau was still typing on his computer when he spoke again.

"I was hoping to speak to you earlier...but things got a bit out of hand, with the collapse of Heliopolis."

As he finished typing, Rau turned his seat around, facing his subordinate.

"Sir, I apologize for what happened during the previous battle," Athrun replied.

"I have no intention of punishing you...but I do want to hear your side of the story. Particularly since it wasn't like you, Athrun."

Just by hearing the commander's words, Athrun's facial expression turned to one of hesitance as he bit down on his teeth and darted his eyes away from the masked man. With this, Rau Le Creuset spoke again.

"I understand you were near that machine when it was activated."

Regaining his composure Athrun spoke with conviction fitting a soldier.

"I'm terribly sorry. I was stunned by what had happened and failed to report the incident. That final machine. The person piloting it is Kira Yamato...a Coordinator friend from the military preparatory school...I attended on the Moon."

"Well…!" Was the only one word that passed the masked man's lip. He was shocked to learn of the pilot's identity. Intrigued, he sits up and gives the bluenette his undivided attention.

"I never dreamed that we'd meet again in such a situation...so I needed to to be sure."

"I see. War is full of irony," Rau said, getting out of his chair, opting to stand with one hand on his hip, looking back at Athrun with more words to say.

"I don't blame you for being stunned. I imagine you were very close to this friend."

"Yes." Was the only word that came from Athrun as he held his head down in disappointment. This moment of sadness is soon ended as Rau floats towards him and speaks again.

"Very well. If that's the case, I shall take you off the upcoming sortie."

Hearing this, Athrun's head flipped back up in disbelief while his commander continued to speak.

"You wouldn't be able to point a gun at such a friend. And I don't want to force you to, either."

"No Commander! That's…!" Before he could protest any further, he was cut off by the Commander.

"Even if he was once your friend...we must shoot him if he's now our enemy. I'm sure you can understand that."

At hearing this, Athrun fired back, his voice full of emotion.

"Kira is...He's being used by the Naturals! He's brilliant, but also absent-minded and good-natured...so he fails to see that he's being taken advantage of. That's why I wanna persuade him! He's also a Coordinator! I know he'll understand what we have to say!" While initially taken aback by this outburst, Rau regains his composure and spoke again to Athrun.

"I understand how you feel. But…what if he won't be persuaded?"

With that said, Zala looks down with disappointment and answers his Commander.

"If that should happen...I'll shoot him myself."

As the bluenette leaves the room, the masked man allows himself a smirk.

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Archangel_**

As the Archangel continues on its course, Romero informs the crew of a nearing heat source.

"Large heat source detected! Believed to be the engine of a warship. Distance, 200,Yellow 33, 17. Mark 02 Charlie. Course zero- shift-zero!"

Hearing this, the bridge atmosphere quickly turns grim.

"Besides us? It's heading in the same direction," Mu says in a solemn tone.

"Have they caught on to us?" Murrue asks. Having floated up beside the captain's seat, Natarle peers at the screen.

"It's a fair distance from us," Natarle notes. Interrupting the two, Romero speaks up again.

"The target is passing our ship. Ship type confirmed. It's a Nazca-class."

Letting out a growl in frustration, Mu speaks.

"They're getting in front of us to stop us in our tracks!"

Turning her head to Romero, Natarle asks, "Where's their Laurasia-class?"

"Wait a moment," he replies. Seconds pass by as the Petty Officer nimbly types away at his computer terminal before abruptly stopping.

"There's a heat source following us, 300 to stern," he informs as he turns, now facing Natarle and Murrue. "When did that get there?"

The two glance each other's way, both finding the other to be just as confused. At this point, Mu chimes in again. "At this rate, the Laurasia-class will eventually catch up to us," he starts. "But if we use our engines to escape, the Nazca-class will find us immediately."

Turning his attention to Romero, Mu continues.

"Hey, bring up data on the two vessels and a map of space over here."

"Do you have a plan?" Natarle asks. Now giving her his complete attention, Mu swivels his seat around and replies with that smile of his.

"That's what I'm getting ready to think about!"

* * *

 ** _In the Lounge Room of the Archangel_**

All throughout the ship, one could hear the deafening screams of the alarms followed by the voice of Romero.

 _"Enemy unit, silhouette detected. Level 1 battle stations! All military personnel, get to your positions at once. I Repeat…!"_

As this is broadcasted, civilians look wary to one another. Children cling to their mothers and fathers in fear. Kira's friends simply look upward at the radio. Kira and Cagalli stiffen up in surprise, and Jackie and Dalida swear under their breaths as they rush to the bridge.

"And I just got into bed, too!" Dalida says.

In the lounge, talk about the situation is a-lit.

"Is this ship entering a battle?" one of them ask. Another one chimes in.

"But they've got us on board."

Miriallia looks down, trying to ignore it all when she hears the next words that come out of the broadcast.

" _Kira Yamato, to the bridge."_

At this, her head shoots up, her eyes wide as saucers. She stays still for a moment before returning to her initial position. Everyone else continues staring at who knows what with a bemused expression on their face. Finally, she speaks.

"I wonder what Kira's decided."

An uneasy silence hangs over the group for a few moments before Sai speaks.

"We'll most likely be in an unenviable position if he doesn't fight."

Looking at a remarkably silent Tolle, she speaks to him.

"Hey, Tolle. We're always sitting on the sidelines relying on Kira to protect us, aren't we?"

Looking down, Tolle answers her.

"If we have the ability to make a difference, then put that ability to use, right?"

Tolle looks up to his friends with conviction in his eyes as Sai and Kuzzey nod their heads, eyes burning with equal intensity.

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Archangel_**

"Captain! I have civilians here wishing to speak with you," Dalida states.

"We have no time to waste! I'll listen to their complaints later, so tell them to keep quiet!" Natarle shouts.

With a slightly stumped face, Dalida replies.

"Well, uh...the students that are with us from Heliopolis are offering to help with the ship's operation.

At this, Murrue turns her focus entirely on him.

"What?"

* * *

 ** _In the Hallways of the Archangel_**

Kira looks down to the ground as he and Cagalli float down the hallways. The boy looks up at the sound of a familiar voice. Kira stops with Cagalli following suite, but not before the latter bumps into the boy. The girl swears under her breath before looking up to see her friends along with Dalida, clad in Earth forces uniforms. As Kira's friends stop, the boy speaks.

"Tolle. All of you."

"Hi, Kira," Tolle replies.

"What's with the outfits?" Cagalli asked.

"We've decided to help out with tasks aboard the 're understaffed, right?" Sai answered.

Chiming in, Kuzzy speaks. "We had to wear the military uniforms if we're gonna be on the bridge."

"ZAFT's military uniforms are cooler, aren't they? With no badge of rank, these look kinda of silly," Tolle jokingly states.

"Don't be a wise guy," Dalida says, irritation oozing from his voice. Getting back on subject, Tolle speaks again.

"We can't just have you fighting all the time."

With that said, Miriallia chimes in. "Given the situation we're in, we'll help. However we can."

Hearing their words, Kira smiles, happy to know that his friends would be there for him. Cagalli also looks at the four with a smile on her face, knowing Kira wouldn't be alone.

"Alright that's enough chit chat, move on youngsters!" Dalida shouted, and with a rushed farewell, they leave. Before he goes, Dalida turns and faces Kira.

"If you're planning on taking off again, make sure you wear a pilot suit this time!"

Facing him as well, Kira replies. Ignoring this, Cagalli goes on without him.

"U-Um, Mr. Chandra!"

* * *

 ** _On the Bridge of the Vesalius_**

As the Nazca-class ship sails to reach its destination, they come across a giant asteroid rock surrounded by a green energy field barrier. On the bridge of their ship, the Captain and the Commander look on from their view screen.

"So that's…!" The Captain spoke with shock as Commander Creuset chimes in.

"The Umbrella of Artemis. It appears that they've already caught onto us. It's in effect."

"We've arrived here without catching the Earth Forces' new ship," Captain Ades states with a smile on his face in his command chair.

"We're in their path. We'll get them here," Rau added as he stood beside the Commander, smiling back at him. At this seeking moment, the Captain gives out his orders.

"Turn the ship 180 degrees! Match velocity to Artemis, and proceed astern!"

Soon, the Vesalius turns around with its thrusters adjusted moving backward towards Artemis.

* * *

 ** _In the Locker Room of the Archangel_**

With one final strap adjusted, Kira is now clad in a white, black and blue striped pilot suit. At this moment, a similarly dressed Mu enters, floating to the boy.

"Judging from the outfit, I see that you've finally decided to do it."

Grabbing his helmet from the air, Kira replies.

"You said so yourself, Lieutenant. Right now, you and I are the only ones capable of protecting this ship. It's not that I want to fight, but I do wanna protect this ship and the people onboard."

"It's the same for us. You won't find too many people who are here for no reason," Mu says with that smile of his, before turning serious. "We fight because if we don't, we'll be unable to protect."

Kira looks back at him with equal seriousness, before giving a small nod. With that out of the way, Mu now floats over to Kira.

"Okay, let me explain our plan to you."

* * *

 ** _Out in Space_**

While the Archangel continues its journey, Dalida speaks.

"Laurasia-class approaching, 90 to Stern!"

* * *

 ** _On the Archangel_**

As Mu floats to his Moebius Zero, he turns to Kira and says, "In any case, think only about protecting this ship and yourself."

"Y-yes! Please be careful, Lieutenant!" With that said, he pushes himself off the Moebius Zero and floats over to the Strike. As he does this, he can't help but think about one certain inevitable encounter.

 _'Athrun, will you come back as well to sink this ship?'_

 _The level gate opens_ as the Moebius Zero makes its way to the launch catapult. The guidance crew makes way for the steadily approaching mobile armor.

"Moebius Zero, La Flaga, to the linear catapult!"

The level gates close once more as the mobile armor finally comes to a stop. With the signs set to go, Mu launches. In the bridge, Dalida speaks up once more.

"Laurasia-class approaching, 50 to stern!"

Hearing this, Murrue replies.

"Start main engines in two minutes! Strike, prepare to take off!"

Soon after that's said, a dormant Strike is on the launch catapult.

"Catapult connection; System all green!"

As Kira checks over the controls, he thinks back to Mu's plan.

' _So the lieutenant will secretly move ahead and hit the enemy in front of us, leaving me to protect the ship from the rear.'_

Now putting up the visor, Kira thinks aloud, "Is this gonna work?"

At this moment, the communication screen blares to life, showing Miriallia. Kira snaps his head and looks at her, almost unbelievingly.

"Miriallia?"

"From now on, I'll act as combat controller for the mobile suit and armor," she informs him. Giving the boy a peace sign, she continues. "I'm counting on you!"

In the background, Sai adds, "We're all counting on you!"

Hearing this, Kira gives them a small smile. As soon as the level gate close, the ceiling gates open, revealing the Aile Striker. At the mobile suit's sides, more hatches open, and bring out a beam rifle and shield.

"Mount the Aile Striker! The enemy will be here as soon as the Archangel fires its engines! Be ready!" Natarle orders.

"Right!" Kira answered.

Soon after this is said, the ship's legs are retracted and the Lohengrin is taken out once again.

In the bridge, Murrue gives out her orders.

"Start engines! Fire assault cannons! Target: the Nazca-class in front of us."

As the ship starts off, Natarle gives the orders to fire, and soon enough, two streaks of red and faint blue are seen flying off towards the ship.

* * *

 ** _On the Vesalius_**

Alarms were roaring throughout the ship as a green crewman speaks.

"Heat source approaching from ahead…and large heat source detected behind it! It's a warship!"

"Evasive action!" Ades replies. Behind him is a floating Rau, watching and absorbing everything before speaking with a smirk on his face.

"I see they're firing in confusion, now that they've seen us."

* * *

 ** _On the Archangel_**

"A mobile suit has taken off from the Nazca-class ahead!," Dalida says. "Only the one!"

Hearing this, Natarle turns to Murrue.

"Captain!"

"Please" is the only response given. Now turning to Miriallia, Natarle speaks.

"Have Kira Yamato take off!"

With that said, Miriallia brings her mouthpiece close to her before addressing the boy in question.

Kira replies with a roger, and the launch catapult is activated. Clenching the controls and heaving deep breaths, Kira prepares himself for the unavoidable battle to come his way. Once again, Kira finds himself thinking back to his conversations with Mu. Hanging his head, he now thinks back to his friends' words. With the go signals on, Kira brings his head back up, resolve gleaming in his eyes as he speaks.

"Kira Yamato! Strike, Launching!"

And soon enough, the mobile suit was flung out the launch bay. The Aile Strike's wings unfold as the Strike finally awakens and bursts forth.


	5. PHASE 5

_**On the Bridge of the Archangel**_

An air of seriousness can be felt all throughout the darkened bridge. Dalida informs the crew of three approaching heat sources. With extra urgency, he adds, "They're mobile suits from the Laurasia-class ship!"

"So they're here," Murrue says to no one in particular. At this point, Natarle orders preparations for anti-mobile suit combat.

"Load Korinthos into missile tubes 13 to 24! Activate Valiant linear cannons! Input target data! Hurry!"

Soon after these orders are relayed, the ship transforms. With a soft hiss, the missiles are unveiled, and the Valiant cannons are extended out from both sides of the ship. Mere moments after the cannons are out, Dalida speaks.

"Machine type determined," he starts, before gasping at the data before him. "Why these are...X numbers, Duel, Buster, and Blitz!"

"What?" Natarle replied in shock.

The crew let out startled gasps or confused grunts at the realization that the mobile suits they're fighting are none other than their own.

"So they're using all of the G-Weapons they took, and using them against us?" Murrue asked, trepidation and unease oozing from her voice. No one answers the obvious question as they continue to glare at the screen.

Elsewhere in space, a red mobile suit appears in the distance. Athrun gasps as his screen zoomed in on one certain mobile suit. Said mobile suit's pilot is equally rattled. Kira remembers Mu's words of protecting the ship and himself.

' _Easier said than done!'_ He thinks to himself as he revs up the thrusters and the Strike roars ahead. Getting a closer look at the mobile suit, Kira is not as alarmed as disappointed. He had been vainly hoping that it wouldn't come to this.

Oh well.

* * *

Meanwhile, the aforementioned and now activated mobile suits finally reach their target. Leading the small team is Yzak in the Duel.

"Athrun has already taken off from the Vesalius! Don't be delayed!"

"Not by that guy!" Replied Dearka, pilot of the Buster Gundam. With that said, the three mobile suits spread out and burst forward. This doesn't go unnoticed by one certain warship.

''Commence interception," Murue ordered as she shifted her attention to her behind. "CIC, What's taking you?"

Natarle turns her head to a cadet working on the weapons and confirms that the laser designator is ready. As soon as that's done, she turns back to the front.

"Missile tubes 13 through 18! Fire!"

And fire they did. But Natarle isn't quite done yet.

''Load Sledgehammers, into tube 7 through 12. Korinthos missiles, 19 through 24. Fire!''

Soon enough, twelve missiles can be seen blasting away from the back of the ship.

Back on the other side of the battlefield, the Aegis finally engages the Strike, dashing to it, beam saber ignited. The Strike responds likewise, Now holding a beam saber of its own. To Kira's surprise, the Aegis flies by harmlessly. As he swivels the Strike around, Kira gasps as he sees the digitalized face of Athrun on the comm. screen.

"Kira! Stop it! Put your weapon away Kira!" Athrun cried, his voice overflowing with emotion. "We're not enemies! Am I right? Why must we fight each other? Why must you, a fellow coordinator, fight against us?''

Kira shakes at his friend's' words. This moment, however, is shortly lived as he sees the three mobile suits gaining ground against the Archangel, taking on and avoiding the ship's attacks with relative ease. Back with the Archangel, Natarle orders the firing of the Valiant cannons. Nicol and Dearka grunt in surprise and frustration as they dart away from the shots. Kira tries to close in on them but to no avail, as Athrun darts ahead and blocks his path.

"Stop it Kira!" the bluenette starts again. ''What are you doing with the Earth Forces? Why are you siding with the naturals?"

"I'm not with the Earth Forces!" Kira finally replies. "I'm just trying to protect my friends! Cagalli's there! Why are you with Zaft anyway?! I thought you hated war!"

Hearing this, Athrun gasps. How could he have forgotten Cagalli?

' _So it was her…'_ he thought. He hadn't forgotten. He was desperate to avoid this conflict, to avoid hurting a friend. He'd been trying to deny the fact that Cagalli, a _natural_ , was there. But now, it was obvious. What could he do? His father would find out eventually, and lord knows that he would never let her of all people, join them. How could he even come into contact with her? It was becoming clearer and clearer to the poor bluenette that this wasn't going to work the way he hoped it would. The two mobile suits continue dashing away left and right in a desperate attempt to avoid the conflict. The conflict came anyways as the Duel flew in and broke up the moment. A shocked Kira zips upward, narrowly avoiding two beam rifle shots.

''What's wrong with you, Athrun?!'' Yzak screams as he continues his fusillade.

Kira manages to raise his shield in time and block the first shot and dodge a second but soon enough, it becomes clear that's all he can do. Kira's just trying his best not to piss himself as he rockets on away from the Duel. Yzak, on the other hand, is absolutely infuriated.

''That rascal! Does he only know to run away?!"

The Archangel continues exchanging blows with the two Gundams. Murrue orders evasive maneuvers while Natarle takes care of beam offense.

''Fire the anti-beam depth charges!''

Soon enough, two missiles are seen hurtling forward and exploding into white orbs of light. The orbs soon diminish into scattered particles that cover most of the front and side of the ship. Continuing, she adds, ''Igelstellungs! Don't allow the enemy to get any closer to the ship! Set the Helldarts to be auto-launched!'

The guns roar to life, squaring in on the mobile suits while the Helldarts rocket to them.

Nicol steers the Blitz aside, dodging a few shots and blocks the remaining gunfire with his shield, before turning back and dashing away from the missiles. The effort is proven fruitless as the Helldarts make contact with their target and erupt into a white pinkish explosion. The Bitz staggers back at this, while its pilot grips onto the controls, grunting at the impact.  
The Buster keeps its distance from the Archangel, shooting both its Gun launcher and High energy rifle, trying to hit an area without anti-beam coated particles. While the majority of the volley is dispersed by the particles, Dearka finally manages to hit the Archangel's right wing, shaking the ship to its very core. The bridge crew scream and hold onto their seats for dear life while the civilians clutch onto whatever's closest to them. A loud hiss can be heard as the ship's right wing dissolves the impact shot.

Dearka isn't finished yet, as he bombards the ship with a missile volley, which is countered by the Igelstellungs. Missiles clash fervently against their new obstruction, but not a single one manages to break past the ship's defense. A huge series of small explosions can be seen as the Buster moves left and Dearka swears in frustration.

"This thing's way too well-armed! I can't get through it!"

At this point, Nicol interrupts Dearka's rant with an idea.

"I'll go at it from below! Cover me!"

"Understood!" Dearka replied.

Nicol swoops down while Dearka covers him with a beam volley. Soon enough, the Blitz is under the ship. Unfortunately, this doesn't go by undetected as Dalida informs the crew of the Blitz's current residence beneath them.

"Lower section Igelstellungs, commence interception!" Natarle orders.

Adding onto that order, Murrue says, "We'll use the Gottfried's! Left roll 30 degrees, port 20!" Hearing this, Arnold relays the orders to Tolle. With that said, the ship careens to the left (much to the discomfort of the civilians), CIWS never stopping. Now at 30 degrees exactly, the Archangel's knees shift and retract again, unveiling the Turrets, which waste no time in firing at the now together Buster and Blitz. The attack is ultimately evaded as the two dash apart from each other. Nicol isn't finished yet, however, as he raises his shield mounted beam rifle and fires while following the Buster.

After finally gaining some distance on the Duel, Kira raises his beam rifle at it in retaliation. Activating the aiming device and putting both hands on the rifle for added accuracy, he fires. Much to his dismay, the Duel evades. Kira swears over and over again as he fires, completely unaware of the Strike's waning power.

"Not like that, you won't!" Yzak taunts as he boosts aside from another blast. Now brandishing a beam saber, the Duel charges. Kira's eyes bug out at the sudden change of pace. Having closed the gap between them, Yzak swings the saber lengthwise. his attack was neutralized by Kira's shield, and the Duel hurriedly pulls back. Taking advantage of this, the Strike dashes to the left and fires, shield slightly lowered. Yzak is undeterred as he quickly regains balance, dashes to his foe and follows up with a horizontal slash. The Strike jets to the right and fires back at an already recovered and approaching Duel. Athrun watches the fight from a distance, conflict, frustration, and sadness gleaming in his eyes.

* * *

 _ **Inside the Vesalius bridge**_

In spite of the seriousness of the situation, things at the bridge haven't changed much, besides Rau being in his seat for once. One of the operatives speak.

''Enemy vessel approaching, distance 740!"

At this point, A new operative chimes in.

"Message from Gamow," he starts, before reading it. "'Our ship has also confirmed total enemy battle force; One mobile suit.'"

Hearing this, Rau folds his hands together before speaking.

"So that mobile armor still isn't ready, I see."

Shifting his focus to Rau, Ades replies.

"I believe we can make that assumption."

Rau goes silent at this and lifts his head up, obviously in thought. He brings up one hand to his chin and stays silent for a few moments before allowing himself a small smile.

Little did they know, said mobile armor was hovering around in the debris, its pilot's eyes sharply on the lower screens of the cockpit. Narrowing his eyes, Mu speaks.

"Not yet."

* * *

 _ **Back with the Vesalius**_

"Enemy vessel approaching, distance 630," One of the operatives informs. "It will shortly enter our ship's firing range!"

Turning to Ades, Rau speaks.

"We will begin our attack."

"But our mobile suits are out there fighting," he replies as he turns and faces Rau. "Firing our main cannon-"

As usual, Rau cuts Ades off.

"None of our guys would be clumsy enough to be hit by friendly fire," he assures him with a confident smile befitting a leader. "But our counterparts will be firing at us."

Hearing this, Ades' shoulders and frown droop slightly, before finally turning back to the front of the bridge and giving out his orders.

"Prepare to fire Main cannon! Target enemy vessel!"

One of the operatives in front relay these orders to his comrade. The clanking of metal can be heard as the main cannons shift upward and zero in on their target.

Yzak lets out a war cry as he once again closes in on the Strike, this time lowering his beam saber to the enemy mobile suits' gut. The attack is canceled seconds before he could finish it as the Strike fires at the Duel, forcing it back, but not for long, as the Duel dives under another shot and advances yet again. Kira takes deep breaths as his eyes dart left and right, before gasping at the Duel, which has closed the gap between them again. Quickly, he slams on the thrusters, yanking the Strike back from another swipe before firing back at the Duel, which tilts out of harm's way before slamming on the thrusters again and continues its chase. While Kira rockets off away from the Duel, he flies past the Buster. Seeing this, Dearka notices his friends' struggle. Deciding to aid him, the Buster fires its high energy rifle at poor Kira, who gasps at the sudden turn of events.

Soft beeps can be heard in the cockpit of the Moebius Zero. Mu narrows his eyes once more as the main screen locks onto its target.

' _Got it.'_

* * *

 _ **On the Bridge of the Archangel**_

"Laser designator sensed from the Nazca-class ahead of us!" Dalida informs. Turning around, he continues. "They're targeting the ship!"

Hearing this, Natarle gasps before turning and addressing the captain. Murrue is silent, simply glaring at the main screen. Her silence is broken when she hears Natarle speak again.

"Prepare to launch Lohengrin!"

Murrue gasps and turns around, now facing the ensign.

"Wait! The Lieutenant's Zero is approaching the enemy! Evasive action!"

"It's too risky," Natarle replies. "Unless we fire, we'll get hit!"

Murrue slams her fist on the arms of her chair, snarling at the options available to her as Jackie informs the crew of a quickly incoming Laurasia-class from the stern.

"Athrun, Yzak, what are you doing?" Dearka asks. "Let's cut him off!"

With that said, the Buster Gundam circles around to the back of a still firing Strike. Soon enough, and much to Kira's horror, the Strike is surrounded by the four Gundams.

* * *

Rau stiffens slightly and raises his head. He thought that mobile armor was out of the equation, but it seems his sixth sense was telling him otherwise. Said mobile armor was rocketing skyward to them with a roar.

"Boost engines to maximum!" Rau orders. "Lower bow, pitch angle 60!"

Ades turns to him, giving him a blank confused stare. This face of confusion soon turns to one of complete surprise as one of the operatives speak.

"Heat source incoming from below! It's a mobile armor!"

Hearing this, Ades gives out Rau's orders while adding one of his own to activate CIWS.

A soft purr can be heard as the ship vertically rotates sixty degrees and sets their weapons ablaze, moments before the Moebius Zero zooms in. With his gunbarrels out and at the ready, Mu fires at the attacking ship. Bullets collide with more bullets, causing miniature explosions. The mobile armor dives over and under, and dashes aside from any incoming shots, and the ship moves aside likewise, leaving The Moebius and the Nazca-class ship more or less at a draw, neither landing a hit on the other. Two linear rifle shots to the rear from the ever nearing Moebius are quick to fix this. The bridge crew let out startled grunts as the ship trembles. Seeing this, Mu closes in completely and fires his Harpoon. The rope straightens as it connects to its target, and with a loud snap, is broken by a retreating Moebius Zero. In the tilting bridge, one of the operatives speak.

"Major damage to engines! We're losing thrust!"

Another one chimes in, informing the crew of the retreating mobile armor. Rau floats over to a seat as Ades screams at them to shoot it down, and another continues on the damage report and orders sealing of bulkheads. Standing up, Rau his attention to the crew, he speaks.

"We're leaving! Ades, send a message to the Gamow!"

' _Damn you, Mu.'_

* * *

 _ **On the Archangel**_

An odd silence fills the ship's bridge. This is soon broken by Jackie.

"Message from Lieutenant La Flaga," he starts. "Mission succeeded! He's on his way back!"

Everyone on the bridge cheered with joy and relief while Captain Ramius issued out her next orders.

"We'll take this opportunity to attack the Nazca-class ahead of us!"

"Prepare to fire Lohengrin number one and two together!" Natarle ordered as Murrue spoke again.

"Send Lieutenant La Flaga a message to clear the area! Also tell the Strike to stay away from the line of fire!"

"Positron bank breath chamber at maximum. Muzzle choke potential has stabilized! Opening launchers!" Dalida informed as a screen displayed a pair of positron cannons ready to go.

* * *

While the Archangel unveils its Lohengrin, the Strike and its pilot continue in their desperate attempt to come out alive. Kira boosts down, avoiding a beam shot from the Duel and counters with a rifle shot of his own. While the shot misses its target, it does well in forcing the mobile suit back, giving Kira a short break before another beam shot (courtesy of the Blitz) flies dangerously close to where he was not ten seconds ago. The Strike turns around and fires back with its shield raised, before quickly surging towards the Blitz, evading one rifle shot from the Buster in the process. Kira takes sharp, labored breaths while he checks the area. A soft beep catches his attention as he looks to the lower screen. The opposing Gundams receive a notification of their own, and it's not good news.

"The Vesalius has been hit?!" A shocked Yzak asks to no one in particular.

"So they want us to retreat?" Dearka questioned.

Kira takes advantage of the four's discussion and begins his trek back to the ship. Now seeing the Archangel's Lohengrin, Yzak speaks the one thought running through all his comrade's minds.

"Aw shit!"

Soon enough, two huge red streaks of light are seen hurtling towards the enemy ship, devouring any debris in their way. Mu watches this from a safe distance, astounded by the raw power behind the blasts.

* * *

 _ **On the Vesalius**_

As everyone on the bridge stares in shock at the large approaching beam, one of the crewmen in green speaks to the Captain and Lieutenant.

"Heat source approaching! Direction: zero zero zero."

Ades and Rau still stare on in disbelief, with both of their teeth clenched.

"Three seconds to impact!" The ZAFT crewman informed, his voice slightly panicked.

"Starboard, maximum thrust! Dodge it!" The masked man ordered finally.

The ship begins to move to its right as the incoming beam arrives. Although the blast missed the bridge, it still wound up hitting the left side of the ship's engine. An unfortunate handful of workers in the engine gets swallowed up in the flames of the explosion that follows.

"The Nazca-class is leaving our ship's route!" Dalida informs. Hearing this, Murrue gives her orders.

"Signal for the Strike to return! The Archangel will proceed to Artemis at maximum speed."

Soon enough, three colored retreat signals blast away from the ship and burst into the sky, almost like fireworks. Kira looks at them with awe. Unfortunately for Kira, Yzak isn't letting up just yet.

"I won't let you! Not you!"

The Duel flies towards the Strike with another horizontal swing, and the Strike, like every time up until now, dashes to the side away, avoiding it, and the cycle begins once again.

"Yzak! We've been ordered to retreat!" Athrun says.

"Shut up, you coward!" Yzak shot back.

Athrun growls at this and watches helplessly as the fight continues. Soon enough, the Buster joins into the mix. In the spinning cockpit of the Strike, Kira swears. Things were not looking well for him.

* * *

 _ **On the Archangel**_

"Kira!" Miriallia cries. Turning to Natarle, Jackie speaks.

"He's surrounded! At this rate...!"

At this point, Murrue interrupts. "Back him up!"

"It's impossible in that melee!" Natarle replies. More bad news comes as Dalida informs the crew of their increasing distance from the Strike. Tolle worryingly mutters the boy's name.

"I'm worried about the power level remaining in the Strike," Natarle says.

"I know," Murrue starts. "Where's Lieutenant La Flaga?"

Elsewhere in space, the Lieutenant in question watches the Strike's continuing troubles with the Gundams.

' _He can't return? That fool!'_

* * *

Kira screams in panic at an incoming beam volley from the Buster, which is blocked and countered with a few beam shots. At this moment, Yzak closes in on the Strike once more, screaming all the way. Seeing this, Kira turns the Strike to him and begins to fire a volley, but something was off this time around. The beam rifle let out small shrieks in protest at Kira's attempts to attack. Soft beeps from the cockpit once again grab Kira's attention. The boy looks at the screen in horror.

"Out of power?!"

As if to answer the obvious question, the Strike's color (like its pilot) literally leaves its body, leaving poor Kira all but hopeless in this situation.

"Gotcha!" Yzak cries as he chases after a now fleeing Strike. Fleeing is quickly proven to be fruitless, as the Duel catches him in basically no time. Kira swears in his mind. He figured that he'd be slower now that he was out of power, but not to this extent! Kira turns back at the closer than ever Duel. He couldn't run away from this, Not this time.

Finally deciding enough is enough, Athrun charges in, transforming to his mobile armor form. Kira lets out a strangled grunt as the Aegis grips the Strike in its claws. It takes the boy a few moments to realize that he's not dead, much to his confusion and relief. The Archangel crew have a less positive reaction to their comrade and friend being captured with their only mobile suit.

"He's been captured," Dalida informs as a screen above the main one displays footage of the captured Strike. "The Strike has been captured by the Aegis! Phase Shift down!"

Hearing this, everyone gasps.

Things were looking bleak for them.

* * *

Kira looks left and right in confusion as the current of events unfold.

"What are you doing, Athrun?!" Yzak asked, infuriated.

"I'm capturing this machine!" Athrun replied.

"What?" Yzak questioned.

At this point, Dearka chimes in.

"Our orders are to destroy it! You're ignoring orders!"

"If we have the chance to capture it, all the better!" Athrun shot back at him, before adding with finality, "We're retreating!" much to his comrades' silent dismay. With that said, the Aegis roars ahead in relative quiet, with its siblings following closely behind.

"That bastard!" Yzak swears under his breath.

* * *

Back with the Archangel, Jackie informs the crew that the Laurasia-class has closed the distance to 280. Hearing this, Natarle calls to the captain. Murrue glares at the screen, completely response-less.

"Kira! Kira, please respond!" Miriallia cries. At this point, Jackie chimes in.

"A message from Lieutenant La Flaga!"

Jackie's screen blared to life and displayed a letter with the man's picture on it.

"Prepare catapult to send out the launcher striker?"

Hearing this, Murrue finally responds.

"What?" she asks.

* * *

The Moebius sped on, closing in on the Archangel.

"I hope you get this in time, kid!" Mu thinks aloud.

The kid in question, now recomposed, turns his head to the Aegis as best as he can before finally speaking.

"Athrun! What's the big idea?"

"I'm taking you to the Gamow," Athrun replied.

"Get serious! No way am I going to any ZAFT ship!" Kira cries as he desperately tries to break free of the Aegis's solid grip.

"You're one of us, Kira!" Athrun stated.

"No! I won't join with ZAFT! I won't fight against my friends!"

"I'm your friend! Cut it out, already!"

At this, Kira goes silent while Athrun continues.

"Just let me take you. I don't want to have to shoot you!"

"Athrun…!" Kira says. He could tell by the tone of his voice that this was eating at him.

Athrun's grip on the controls waver as he continues, sorrow written all over him.

"I already lost my mom in the Bloody Valentine," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. Kira gasps at the news. "So I-!"

Athrun gasps as he looks ahead to see a speeding Moebius Zero coming right at him, Gunbarrels out and firing. The Aegis twists and turns left and right, avoiding the shots while continuing its journey as best as it can, but the Moebius doesn't let up. Bringing one pod to his side and the rest spreading out far away from his other side in a huge half circle, Mu fires. Athrun growls in frustration as he continues his mad dash for home. While the Aegis manages to avoid most of the fire, one shot connects, rattling its pilot and greatly releasing its grip on the Strike. In the cockpit of said mobile suit, the solemn face of Mu appears.

"Kid!"

"Lieutenant La Flaga!" Kira cries, shocked.

At this point, the nearby Gundams take notice of their small surprise attacker.

"A mobile armor?" Dearka asks incredulously.

"Athrun!" Nicol cries.

Athrun grunts as the gunpod fire continued, and swears at another incoming volley, actually losing his hold on the Strike this time. The Aegis quickly reverts back to mobile suit mode and hovers backward behind a few incoming shots before re-igniting the thrusters and charging for the Strike. Kira gasps at this, before quickly turning his attention back to the comm. screen as Mu gives out his orders.

"Get away from here! The Archangel's sending out the Launcher!"

Hearing this, Kira gasps. He might make it out of this alive and uncaptured after all.

While Kira thinks this, things start heating up between Mu and the Aegis. The two dash opposite of each other while the Moebius continues its Gunpod salvo, this time in a small circle. The Aegis sides away from the attack and dashes after the now retreating Moebius.

"We've still got a big one behind us!" Mu says to Kira. "Hurry and make changes to prepare for it!"

Kira makes a troubled face and looks at a screen showing footage of the Aegis and Moebius Zero duking it out. The Aegis dashes backward from an incoming Gunbarrel volley before raising his rifle at an approaching Moebius, but the mobile armor dives under and whizzes past the rifle (and mobile suit) before the Aegis could even fire. Not letting up, Athrun swivels the head around and fires his CIWS at it, which the Moebius also manages to dash past. That's all Kira sees before finally turning his head away from the screen.

At this point, Kira remembers his friends, and more importantly, Cagalli. With slightly wavering determination in his eyes, Kira speaks.

"I understand."

With that said, the Strike turns around and dashes for the Archangel. Seeing this, Athrun calls after his departing friend. Kira does his best to ignore him as he continues his trek to the ship. As if things weren't bad enough, Dearka and Yzak make their move, turning to the Strike and jetting towards it. Kira's eyes go wild as beam shots whizz by dangerously close to him. He needed to hurry.

Fortunately, two Vesalius cannon shots and a missile barrage do well to ward off the Strike's unwanted followers. "Don't let them get too close to the Strike!" Natarle orders.

"Petty officer Murdoch! Are you ready?" Murrue inquires.

* * *

In the launch room, a headset equipped Murdoch replies.

"Ready to go at any time! But this is ludicrous! What if it gets shot down?"

"I know it's crazy, but it's a chance we must take!"

Murdoch growls and sinks further into his seat in response. Back at the bridge, Murrue turns her chair and head slightly, looking down to Natarle.

"Ensign Badriguel! I'm counting on you to get the timing right!"

Hearing this, Natarle snaps her head up to the captain before and gives her her response.

"Roger! Transfer the ship's controls to me!" Without skipping so much as a breath, Natarle begins giving out her orders.

"Laser designator online! Match relative speed with the Strike and forward the catapult's shoot-out time control to the Launcher Striker's computer." Soon enough, the launch catapult is opened with the Launcher ready to go just as its target flies by past the ship.

* * *

The Aegis surges towards the Moebius with a rifle shot, which the Moebius flies aside from and countered with two Gunbarrels below its aggressor. The Aegis dashes away from the shots with ease. Mu swears at the fight's progress.

"What good will it do if I get shot down?"

Unfortunately for Mu, things are about to get worse. Nicol, deciding enough is enough, charges at the mobile armor while firing his shield mounted beam rifle. Seeing this, Mu calls back all his Gunbarrels before tilting away from the blasts and dashing away. The Buster hovers back slightly, narrowly avoiding a stream of bullets while combining its two rifles into the Hyper impulse long range sniper rifle and firing back. Soon after the lemon ball of energy is sent on its way to the Archangels missiles, the Duel darts past the Buster. A surprised Dearka calls after his friend.

"I'm not letting him!" Yzak shrieks.

* * *

A screen pops up, displaying the Duel's increasing closeness to the Strike as

Jackie informs the crew of the Duel's sudden advance. Miriallia and Sai stare down solemnly in response, while the others glare or let out a startled gasp. Just then, the Strike flew to the front of the ship, now locked on the route. Jackie turns around and tells them the news. Hearing this, Natarle gives out her orders.

"Catapult release!"

With all signs on a go, the Launcher Striker is flung out of the illuminated launch catapult.

Kira turns his attention to the once again shrieking bottom screen.

"It's here!" Kira cries.

The Strike sheds itself of its current equipment as it aligns with the Launcher pack. Unfortunately for Kira, the now beam rifle equipped Duel has other plans. With a confident smirk plastered to his face, Yzak takes out his aiming device, which is quick to zero in on the Strike.

Hearing the alarms blaring in the cockpit, Kira turns and discovers to his horror that the Duel has locked on to him. Just as the combo weapons pod is mounted, the Duel fires its grenade launcher. Tolle cries Kira's name aloud, while the rest simply gasp. The Agni Cannon is mounted seconds before a blinding pinkish white explosion envelops the Strike. The Archangel crew watch wide-mouthed as their hope is burned to scrap. Athrun and Mu turn to it with frantic eyes, while the culprit slowly inches towards the softening explosion.

"Did I get it?" Yzak wonders, a smile of glee creeping on his face. As if to answer the question, a brilliant crimson beam pierces the clouds of dust and rushes towards the Duel.

"What?" Yzak shrieks as he raises his rifle in retaliation and begins to dash away. The Duel was simply too slow as the beam came and greedily gobbled up its entire arm. While the blast flies off into the distance, a re-awakened Strike charges out of the ashes. Kira lets out a crazed war cry and fires a beam volley at the Duel. Yzak side dashes left from one blast before quickly jettisoning the thrusters and evading another. The boy let out a snarl as he backed away from the fire while the Buster prepared to counter with an H.I.L.R.S.R blast, which was stopped by Mu. In the rumbling cockpit of the Duel, a surprised Yzak turns his attention to the digitalized voice of Athrun.

"Retreat! Yzak! Dearka! We can't pursue them any further!"

"What?"

The Aegis and Blitz hover in place as they see Agni shots flying to and fro from the Strike.

"Athrun's right," Nicol started. "If we continue like this, we'll be the ones out of power!"

Yzak shakes in frustration and glares daggers at the mobile suit before him. He punches the main screen, and with a growl, the two Gundams finally make their leave. Kira doesn't stop firing, however. It didn't look like he _could_ stop. The Strike hovered there, Agni blazing.

In the bridge of the Archangel, Dalida informed the crew of the leaving mobile suits. Murrue dropped into her chair and let out a relieved sigh. It looked like things were going to be alright.

* * *

 _ **On the Gamow**_

The Blitz hovered back lightly with a soft hiss. Once in the hangar bay, it stopped and landed.

In the changing room, Athrun grunts as a floating Yzak slams him into a locker.

"Bastard! Are you outta your mind?!" Pouring more pressure on the poor bluenette's collar, he continues. "If only you hadn't acted out of line back there!"

Standing against the wall next to the exit and turning his cold gaze to Athrun, Dearka speaks.

"That was quite the blunder, and all because you ignored orders."

Athrun remains silent as he turns away from his comrade's glare, a conflicted expression on his face. At this moment, Nicol enters the room. Seeing the scene before him, he quickly rushes to Athrun's aid.

"What are you doing? This isn't the place! Stop it!"

Yzak turns to Nicol and speaks.

"We came in with 4 mobile suits and came back with nothing!" Now turning his glare back to Athrun with doubled intensity, he continues. "This is humiliating!"

"But taking it out on Athrun won't change anything, will it?"

Fierce blue eyes lock onto somber amber ones. Finally, Yzak pushes off Athrun and leaves with Dearka following close behind. Now that they're alone, Nicol turns to the downtrodden bluenette. His eyes soften as he speaks.

"Athrun, I also feel like this isn't like you. However…"

"Can you just leave me alone for now, Nicol?" Athrun asked. Obeying his wishes, Nicol leaves the room.

With that said, Athrun makes his way to the exit. Once the door is closed, Athrun slams his fist against a wall, pushing him lightly against another. This goes completely unnoticed by Athrun, as thoughts of a certain duo consume him.

* * *

 _ **In the Hangar of the Archangel**_

A dormant Strike stands perfectly still, much like its pilot in the cockpit. A group of mechanics along with Mu float by it while Murdoch tries to get the kid out of it.

"Hey! Come on, kid!" Murdoch cried. At this point, a certain blonde donning the uniform of a maintenance worker chimes in.

"Come out, Kira. It's over now," she says softly.

A slightly bemused Mu floats over to the mobile suit's cockpit, holding its chest for balance. Turning around, Mu takes notice of the blonde and gives her an almost apologetic knowing smile. Cagalli turns likewise and responds with a scowl before turning her attention back to the mobile suit, or more accurately, its pilot.

"What's wrong?" Mu asks.

"Well, the kid refuses to come out," Murdoch replies.

"Oh?" is all Mu said before moving himself to the side of the Strike's cockpit and pressing a button. With a metal clank, the cockpit opens. As soon as this happens, Cagalli rushes to Kira, with Mu following closely.

"Kira Yamato!"

Both are shocked when they see the boy.

His eyes were wide and frantic, transfixed on the ground, and he was wheezing. To put it simply, he was a mess. Recovering first from the initial shock, Mu moves closer to the dazed boy.

"Hey, It's over. Come on, now! Neither of us got killed," He says in a comforting tone. Mu begins to remove Kira's iron grip on the controls as he continues, looking straight at the boy. "And the ship's okay. You did a great job."

With that line, Kira snaps out of his trance, blinking a few times before looking down solemnly at his hands. The blonde watches this with concerned and sorrowful eyes. She moves closer to him and brings her hand closer to him. She hesitates a moment before contact, but quickly gets over it and places her hand on his shoulder. Kira looks to her, and she gives him a comforting smile. The boy has many questions for her, his biggest being why she was in a mechanic uniform. But as he's helped out of the cockpit, he decides that he's learned enough for one day, and gives a smile back at her.

* * *

 _ **In the Hallways**_

A sobbing Flay rushes to Sai and pulls him into a tight embrace.

"Sai, you jerk! You jerk! You jerk! You jerk!'

Sai remains unmoving, looking down as the weeping girl breaks apart from him and begins speaking again.

"I was scared! Really scared! The ship shook a lot, and I was alone!"

Flay burrows herself within Sai's chest while the boy looks at her bemusedly. If the situation wasn't so severe, he thinks he'd be embarrassed by this show of affection in public, but that was beside the point. Right now, what was important was cheering up Flay.

* * *

 _ **On the Bridge**_

"Message from Artemis. Request to enter port acknowledged. An inspecting officer is being sent," Dalida informed. Turning her head to him, Murrue replies.

"Okay, thank you."

With said, she lets out a sigh as she directs her eyes to the ground.

* * *

 _ **On the Vesalius**_

The ship stands by the ruins of a destroyed colony while one of the operatives speak.

"To commander Le Creuset. It's from the homeland."

Rau reads a small sheet of paper silently, his expression neutral. After finishing it, he passes it to Ades as he speaks his concern after reading the message.

"A summons to appear before the Supreme Council? You're kidding! After cornering that ship this far, too."

With a smile on his face, the masked man speaks.

"I'd imagine the collapse of Heliopolis has made things...quite hectic at the council right now. Well, it can't be helped. We'll leave the Gamow here. It will continue pursuing that ship."

The Captain gives him a small nod as he continues.

"Also, have Athrun return! The Vesalius will return to the homeland as soon as the repairs are done!"

* * *

 _ **On the Archangel**_

As a small shuttle makes its way to the Archangel, a solemn Kira walks out of the locker room, back in his normal uniform. Thoughts swirl in his head while he walks, practically in his own world. This train of melancholy thought is shortly lived as he abruptly stops, inches from an also changed and smiling Mu. Kira lets out a small surprised grunt as the Lieutenant wraps his arm around his shoulder and crouches down slightly.

"I forgot to tell you earlier."

"Yes?" The brunette asked

Lowering his voice, Mu replies."Put a lock on the Strike's activation program. Make sure no one can move it but you!"

An obviously surprised Kira raises his head at this. Whatever this meant, he knew one thing.

He could not wait for today to be over.

* * *

 _ **Outside of Artemis**_

The door to the bridge slides open with a hiss. Income two men, one old and the other tall and young. The two are greeted by the saluting Murrue and Natarle.

"Thank you, sir," Murrue says. "We're grateful that you've granted our request to enter the port." The ship steers itself around so its back is facing an Asteroid fortress completely covered by an aquatic green force field. Now positioned properly, the ship moves backward. A pair of red lines guided the ship into the Asteroid, that accepts them with a small groan. The force field's prior line pattern goes from horizontal to vertical. Flay watches the scenery before her from the windows of the halls completely breath taken. Beside her is Sai, who seems a lot calmer towards the view. Their hands are pressed against the lower wall of the window.

"Wow," she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It's called a lightwave defensive belt, also known as the umbrella of Artemis. They say it's the ultimate defense weapon. It won't even let a laser beam through."

Turning her attention to him with a giddy smile of relief on her face, she replies.

"I'm so glad. That means we're safe now, right?"

Smiling back at her, Sai gives her his reply.

"Yeah."

Two dock hooks attached themselves to the sides of the Archangel as it finishes docking below the hangar entrance. A flight boat carrying 6 men wearing normal suits hovers to the Archangel. Much to the crew's surprise, these men had rifles.

And they're aimed...right...at...them. Tolle stands up, baffled by current events. Natarle turns her attention to Murrue.

"Captain!"

Turning to the older EA commander with just as much confusion, she speaks.

"Commander!"

"I advise you to remain quiet, Captain."

Hearing this, Murrue goes silent, beads of sweat dropping from the obviously worried captain. Today just didn't want to end on a good note, it seemed.


	6. Chapter 6

Kira makes his way through the clamoring crowd of civilians, looking for his friends. At last, he's able to notice the silhouettes of Sai and Flay. He barely manages to make out the worried voice of Flay asking for an explanation from Sai. About as curious as he is worried, he leans in a little bit, and there it is, on the viewing screen. Footage of six men armed with rifles, infiltrating the ship. Kira only has moments to think of what this could mean before he turns to a loud and authoritative voice. "Freeze!" it said, much to everyone's concern. However, they would soon be more concerned about the sounds of rifles being cocked soon after. Everyone gets up and turns to see five men wearing space suits. The source of the voice is the man in the middle, whom Kira guesses is the leader.

"Don't move!" he barks. Confused gasps waft all throughout the room.

'I hope the others are doing better,' Kira thought.

* * *

On the Bridge of the Archangel

Murrue's head is doing cartwheels, trying to make sense of what's going on, and the group of men that just rudely stormed in here and pointed their guns at them certainly didn't help matters. Miriallia shrieked as one of the men held one point blank to her face. Alright, that was enough.

"What are you doing?" She asked. Her questions are quickly silenced by the cocking of two rifles next to her and Natarle respectively. The two glare daggers at them in reluctant silence.

Things aren't going much better in the hangar. Everyone is gathered in front of the Moebius Zero. Cagalli snarls as one of the men shoved her into the small circle. She spins her head around to Mu, her eyes demanding an explanation. He turns away from her gaze, unable to give one.

Having had enough, Natarle turns to the commander.

"Commander Biddulph! I request you give an explanation for this! We've-!"

"I'm just blockading the ship's controls and fire systems as a security measure."

"Blockading? But the way you're-!"

Natarle goes quiet as another soldier hops in and holds a rifle to her. Seeing this, he continues.

"Your ship is not registered, and so naturally, we have no identification code for it. Given the circumstances, we did permit you to enter port, but unfortunately, we have not yet recognized you as an ally."

"But-!" Just like before, Biddulph is quick to cut off Natarle's protests.

"This is a military facility. I'd like for you to understand at least that much."

Natarle remains silent, shifting her eyes to the ground. Much like Murrue's, there's frustration lying behind them.

"Now, I'd like for the officers to come with me. You shall explain the situation to me."

Natarle and Murrue march silently through the halls with Biddulph in the lead and two soldiers behind them. Looking up, Natarle takes note of Mu. He glares in the direction of a soldier before turning to them.

'Well, I guess we should've gone to Lunar Headquarters then', Mu thought to himself as he and the two female officers board a shuttle.

The shuttle elevates itself and takes off with a roar. Everyone has gotten back to their seats, remaining in solemn silence like the rest of the crew. A pair of men escorted a handful of mechanics and bridge crew to the lounge. They all have their hands on their heads.

"What is it with you guys? You've gotta be kidding me!" Murdoch cries indignantly. His words fall on deaf ears as he's pushed into the room. The ship's crew let their hands drop as they enter. Murdoch swears under his breath and the view screen turns off. Cagalli is quick to go to her friends. Sitting next to Kira, she speaks.

"What's going on?" she whispers harshly.

"I know about as much as you do," Kira replied.

Cagalli growls in frustration and looks back to the men, fuming silently. She was going to kill Murrue and the others for this one of these days.

Three shuttles are seen rocketing off from the Archangel. In an office sits an EA Admiral looking upon from his chair to three big screens displaying footage of the Archangel. He was as bald as an egg and looked a bit over forty.

"A top secret military project of the Atlantic Federation," he remarks. "Who would've expected something like this to jump right into our laps?"

Behind him stands a younger officer with an overgrown mustache on his head that he calls "hair".

"So the rumors that Heliopolis was involved were true," he commented.

With a smile, he replies.

"We'll invite the crew to spend some time here."

Their conversation ends as they turn their attention to a now activated radio and the digitalized voice of one of the operatives speaking.

"Excuse me. I've brought three officers from the unidentified vessel with me."

"Let them in."

The twin doors open and Mu, Murrue, and Natarle enter, along with another guard as an escort. The three turn to the two Eurasian officers with a neutral expression. The older officer turns to the three and speaks.

"Welcome to Artemis."

* * *

In the Cafeteria of the Archangel

As the Eurasian soldiers guard the room, the civilians chat amongst themselves, trying to get an understanding of the situation. Standing by the viewing screen, Sai and Flay look around to see and hear many people worrying about what was going to happen to them. Sai would soon stop as he spots Jackie and walks up to him.

"Uhh, Mr. Tonomura?"

"It's alright kid, you can call me Jackie. So what do you want to speak to me about?" Jackie responded, turning his head to him.

"Well, what's the deal with these guys, Eurasia is supposed to be an ally, right? Don't they get along with the Atlantic Federation?" Sai asks, standing behind him with one hand at his hip.

"That's not the problem," he says with slight irritation in his voice, much to Sai's surprise. Romero heaves a heavy sigh. Tolle turns bemused eyes down to the man in front of him. His shoulders sag and he turns his gaze upwards before finally speaking.

"The problem is we don't have an identification code." Hearing this, Tolle turns his attention to Dalida and asks, "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Apparently," he says, exasperation oozing from his voice. Sitting behind the three are Murdoch and Arnold, the former turning to the petty chief officer.

"Although I believe the problems lies elsewhere," Murdoch states.

"You're right," Arnold replied.

"Maybe it's the top-secret mobile suit and ship. Just a thought," Cagalli says.

Kira lets out a tired sigh, hanging his head.

* * *

In the Admiral's Office

"Lieutenant Ramius, Lieutenant Mu la Flaga, and Ensign Natarle Badriguel," the old man addresses as he shifts gaze up from his laptop and continues. "I see. It appears that your identifications are genuine Atlantic federation ID's."

"We apologize for all the trouble, Admiral Garcia," Mu says.

Pressing his hands together, he replies.

"Not a problem. In fact, I've come across your impressive record...Hawk of Endymion. I also fought at the Grimaldi Front." Hearing this, Mu's face lights up.

"Oh? So you must've been in Commodore Villard's unit."

"That's right. Although we were forced to retreat in that situation, your heroics in downing five GINNs and standing toe to toe with the White Knight of ZAFT gave us a much-needed encouragement."

"Thank you very much, sir."

With a glimmer in his eyes, Garcia gets back on topic. "Who would've thought you'd be on that ship?"

"Unfortunately, being on a special mission, I'm not at liberty to fill you in on the details."

"I understand. But I'm afraid to say that you mustn't expect resupply right away."

At this point, Murrue chimes in. "It is crucial that we head to lunar headquarters as soon as possible. In addition, we're also being chased by ZAFT."

"ZAFT?" Garcia replies in an almost amused tone. He pushes a button on a remote controller next to his laptop. The viewing screens re-activate with a beep, this time displaying footage of the fortress and the Laurasia-class ship hovering around. The screens zoom in on the ship, much to Murrue's surprise.

"The Laurasia-class?" Natarle utters in confusion.

"As you can see, they've been wandering outside the umbrella. Been there for a while now," he says before allowing himself a smug grin. "Well, one or two vessels are of little worry here. However, this means you wouldn't be able to leave here even if you were resupplied, would you?"

"They're after us. We can't afford to risk damage to Artemis by staying here," Mu states, much to the Admiral's amusement. Laughing, he replies.

"Damage? To Artemis? They won't be able to do a thing. And eventually, they'll leave. Happens all the time."

"However, Commandant! They're-!"

Whatever protests Mu was about to make were quickly cut off with a wave of the hand. With Mu now silenced, Garcia speaks.

"In any case, I suggest that you get some rest. You appear very tired. I'll have rooms prepared for you."

With that said, he presses another button on the controller.

"But Commandant-!"

Mu's protests are once again interrupted as another officer comes in, standing at the entrance. He salutes to the Admiral.

"Excuse me, sir!" he says.

Mu turns to him and lets out a small sigh in frustration, with Murrue and Natarle following close behind.

"We'll be able to get in touch with lunar headquarters once they leave," Garcia declares. Standing up, he continues. "We'll plan everything after that."

Turning back to him solemnly, Mu asks, "Is Artemis really that safe?"

"Yes. As safe as being in your mother's arms."

* * *

In the Cafeteria of the Archangel

Things have calmed down quite a bit since the Captain, Lieutenant, and Ensign was escorted off the ship. Seeing as there's nothing to do about the current situation, everyone goes to the Cafeteria and gets a bite to eat. Walking over to Jackie with a food tray in his hands, Dalida asks as he seats himself next to him, "Is this situation going to continue for long?"

"Beats me! We won't know a thing until the commander returns!"

Chiming in, Romero states, "We can't exactly cause a stir with our allies either."

Sitting across from them are Kira and Sai. The former picks at his food as the latter speaks.

"There seems to be a lot going on even within the Earth forces."

Kira sighs as he once again thinks back to what happened recently. She still didn't know. How was he going to tell her?

* * *

In the Admiral's Office

Two guards stand at the sides of a door, rifles at hand. In this room are Natarle, Murrue, and Mu. The place looked more like a small lounge than a (). A coffee table stood between two striped couches. With a ceiling fan, lamps and a wooden wall cabinet, one would typically be at ease. Not these guys. Natarle paces back and forth around the room, ranting, while the other two sit on opposite couches.

"Sure, the ship may be unregistered, but the treatment we're getting is inappropriate!" Natarle cries. At this point, Mu speaks. "It can't be helped. Right now, they don't want us to return to the ship. What I'm concerned about is that those guys believe that they're absolutely safe here on Artemis."

Hearing this, Natarle halts and turns to the Lieutenant to speak.

"Why would you be concerned about this place, Lieutenant? There's no technology that ZAFT has that can penetrate the base's defense."

"They do, it's just not from ZAFT," Mu spoke with worry on his face as Murrue chimes in ease the atmosphere.

"If you're thinking of the four G-Weapons ZAFT has, that be highly improbable, even if they are equipped with..." With a shock of concern on her face, Murrue recalled one particular G-Weapon, and more importantly, its capabilities.

'No, they would've used it before we got to Artemis...but could they have…?'

"Captain, what's wrong?" Natarle asks. Murrue snaps back to reality, and Mu begins to speak.

"There's no use in thinking about it, Captain, it's only a matter of time before the Blitz pilot figures it out and use it against us."

"What do you mean, Lieutenant? Captain?"

Murrue knew she couldn't hide it any longer and began informing her comrade about the Blitz Gundam's hidden capabilities.

* * *

On the Gamow

The ZAFT reds gather around the hologram channel table while a commander explains the workings of the umbrella. On the holo-table is the computerized image of said Artemis.

"The umbrella of Artemis doesn't allow any lasers or projectiles past it, although the opposite is also true," he notes as the image rotates vertically.

"In other words, they won't be attacking us," Dearka remarks with an incredulous smile on his face. "It's kinda ridiculous when you think about it." he floats down to the ground, leaning on the table before bringing himself back up and returning his eyes to the commander.

"It's first-class as a defensive weapon," he replies before turning his attention back to the table. "Not being an important strategic position, our forces have pretty well ignored it to this point. We currently have no means to get past that umbrella. They've gone into a most troublesome spot."

"Then what'll we do? Wait until they come out?" he asks jokingly, chuckling a little. The commander glares silently at him and Yzak speaks.

"Stop kidding around, Dearka! When the commander returns, do you want to report that we did nothing? That would be a total disgrace!"

At this, Dearka goes silent and turns his gaze to the side with a small huff. Nicol looks intensively at the table before finally speaking.

"The Umbrella's not open all the time, is it?"

Turning to him, the commander replies, "No. It's not normally activated unless there is an enemy presence in the area. However, even if we did approach it while it's closed, they'd notice us before we'd get within the fortress's range and activate the umbrella."

Dearka gives Nicol a shrug, which goes more or less completely unnoticed by the boy. After a few more moments of silence, he speaks again.

"My machine. The Blitz may be able to pull it off."

Hearing this, everyone turns intrigued eyes to Nicol. "It has an interesting function aside from its phase shift, he says smiling.

Soon enough, the Gamow turns itself around and blasts away from the airspace of the fortress.

* * *

In the Control Center of Artemis

The ship's departure is immediately noted by the EA forces. Garcia stands, watching footage of the Archangel when he turns his attention to his beeping remote. He leans down slightly and presses a button. The computer displays the solemn face of his young subordinate.

"What is it?"

"ZAFT's Laurasia-class is leaving the area. Yellow 18, Mark 20, Charlie. Distance, 700 and increasing."

"Very well. I'll leave the rest to Rize. Continue to maintain surveillance of the area."

Soon after, an officer walks in and makes his way to him. Garcia turns to him.

"Well?"

"Sir. Well, examination of the ship is coming along smoothly but the mobile suit…"

"What is it?" He asks quickly.

"There's a lock on the OS that's impossible to analyze. We haven't been able to activate it yet."

"What?"

"We have all our technicians working on it as we speak."

Garcia turns away and lets out a huge huff in frustration.

* * *

Outside of Artemis

The Gamow is slowly moving away from the enemy fortress, luring EA forces into a false sense of security.

''Distance from Artemis, 3500," The green officer informed. "Still no change in the lightwave defensive belt, sir.''

''Alright, this is as far as we can possibly go. All we can do now is hope that this new machine can get past the defensive system undetected..''

Inside the hangar is Nicol, sitting in the cockpit of the Blitz and doing a final checkup before the operation starts.

''Mirage colloid voltage checked, system all green," he says before letting out a small sigh. ''We're putting this to use without any preliminary tests...I hope it works.''

Elsewhere in the Observation room are Yzak and Dearka, watching with mild interest as a pair of mechanics come to help Nicol with the final adjustments.

''The Atlantic Federation sure make some weird stuff," Yzak said

"Nicol would be perfect for this mission," Dearka replied, turning to him with a smirk matching his for a moment before looking back to the Blitz. "It's a job fit for a coward.''

The Blitz starts moving, getting ready for launch...

* * *

In the Cafeteria Room of the Archangel

Garcia and his men march silently into the cafeteria. The two guards turn to their new visitors and let them in. Garcia makes a quick scan of the room before speaking.

"Who are the pilot and mechanic of the mobile suit aboard this ship?"

Small murmurs waft throughout the room. Kira snaps his head up in surprise as the Admiral speaks next.

"The pilot and mechanic! They're amongst you people, right?"

Kira stands up...or at least he tries to before Murdoch brings his hands down on his shoulders and pushes him back in his seat. Arnold walks up to the two and says, "why are you asking us?"

Not taking kindly to Neuman's inquiries,Garcia's comrade grabs him by the collar. Arnold simply glares back at him in response.

"What?" He asks roughly.

"Is it because the captain and our officers didn't tell you? Or because you couldn't ask them?"

At this point, Garcia interrupts the budding squabble. With a dismissive wave of the hand, his comrade releases his grip on the still glaring Neuman, who fixes his collar. Dalida soon comes over to him and turns his attention to Garcia as he speaks.

"I see. That's right," he starts. "Among the Atlantic Federation, you people are elite personnel selected for a top-secret military project."

"What are you planning to do with the Strike?" Dalida asked.

"We won't do anything. It's just that we've been fortunate enough to have been blessed with the opportunity to observe it before the official announcement on it."

Arnold and Dalida remain silent, opting to glare at him instead.

"Who's the pilot?"

At this point, Murdoch butts in. His tone is even as he speaks.

"It's Lieutenant La Flaga. If you have any questions about it, please ask the Lieutenant."

"We monitored the battle fought earlier. Even I know he's the only one capable of handling the Zero and its gunbarrels," Garcia counters before smirking and walking over to Miriallia. The girl can only look at the man in confusion before she's forcefully hoisted up by her arm. Tolle stands up immediately, calling after the poor girl. Sai watches in worry and Kira tries to get up once again, only to be stopped by Murdoch. Cagalli glares daggers at the man, looking ready to pounce at any moment. Miriallia winces as she struggles to break free from the older man's grip. Her struggles are futile as Garcia speaks again.

"It's unlikely that a woman would pilot that thing, but when you consider that even the captain of this ship is a woman…"

With that said, Garcia tightens his grip on Miriallia. The girl lets out a pained yelp. Having had enough, Kira shoots up from his chair, in spite of Murdoch's protests.

"Stop it! That's unfair!"

It seems that Cagalli lost her patience at this point also because moments after the words left Kira's lips, she leaped out of her seat and ran to Garcia. The man looks at her in confusion before his face meets Cagalli's fist. The Old man groans and falls to the ground. Miriallia runs out of the weakened man's grip and runs to Tolle. Garcia looks up to Cagalli with rage almost matching hers. Kira turns to Cagalli, his eyes saying, "let me handle this."

Cagalli grimaced as she waited in dread for the words certain to come out of the boy's mouth next.

"I'm the pilot of that thing!"

* * *

In the Control Center

One of the operatives informs the crew of the enemy's absence in the defense perimeter. Hearing this, their commanding officer speaks.

"Alright, we should be okay now."

With that said, he orders the lightwave defensive belt facilities to level two alert status. On the outside of the fortress, reflectors emitting greens beams of light fade with Artemis' lightwave barriers. Soon enough, the base is completely devoid of the field of light. This change is immediately noted by the ZAFT Commander. In the hangar, the lights blare to life, and the Blitz is flung out of the Gamow. The mobile suit hisses, releasing its Mirage colloid particles and quickly dressing it in the ink-black and glittery whites of space as Nicol punched in a few buttons.

"Mirage colloid formation satisfactory," he said. "Current dispersion loss rate, 35 percent. Usage is limited to 80 minutes."

With that said, he lifts his gaze up to the fortress with worried eyes as the Blitz slowly made its way to Artemis.

* * *

In the Cafeteria

Tension skyrocketed within the room as everyone, from civilian to soldier looked to the Admiral as he walked over to the brunette and spoke, sarcasm oozing from his voice.

"Hey kid. I appreciate you wanting to try to protect the girl," he starts before pausing. His easy going smile contorts to one of frustration and cartoonish villainy as he continues. "but that's not something a young guy like you can handle, now is it? Get serious!"

And with that, the old Admiral takes a swing at the young Coordinator. Kira tilts aside from the punch and grabs the old man by the arm before sending him careening down to the ground. He winds up landing hard on the floor, groaning in pain. Everyone in the room stares in shock at what the young man had done.

"I've done nothing to deserve being hit by you! What is it with you people?"

The boy's words fell on deaf ears as Garcia's men soon came running to his aid, shouldering their way through handfuls of confused and awestruck civilians.

Seeing Garcia's support coming, Cagalli runs over to Kira's side. Before she can reach him, however, she's held back by Arnold and Jackie.

"Let go of me, right now!" The blonde cried indignantly.

"Calm down Cagalli, before you make this even worse!" Arnold replied while he and Jackie struggle to hold her back

"Kira, Stop it! Don't fight back!" Murdoch cried as he held the boy back, but to no avail. Garcia's right-hand man grabbed the young Coordinator by his collar and reeled his fist back, ready to hit the boy square in the face.

Seeing his friend in trouble, Sai jumps into action. He runs to the officer and speaks.

"Hey, knock it off!"

Sai's pleas are met with nothing but pain as the officer backhanded him. Both he and his glasses land on the ground right in front of Flay

"Sai!" She cried as she held the boy in her arms. Seeing that this situation was going nowhere, Flay speaks up.

"Stop this! What Kira is telling you is the truth! He's the pilot!"

"Flay, shut up!" Cagalli barked, still held back. Flay turns to her with a confused stare before quickly shying away from her glare.

Hearing her, the Eurasian Officer turns towards her, Kira still in grasp.

"Give me a break little girl, I'm not falling for that!"

"I'm not lying! Kira's the pilot! He's a Coordinator!"

Those words echoed in the room. The Eurasian soldiers, the Orb civilians, just about everyone who didn't already know stood in silence and deep shock at the realization that the pilot of the mobile suit that helped save their butts was just a child. Murdoch lets out a groan as he facepalms. Many of the Archangel crew carried a 'what happens now?' look on their faces as Garcia stood up and straightened out his hat.

'A Coordinator? Interesting...' Garcia thought. He smirked at this game-changing information. Kira turns silently to him with solemn eyes. That look was all Garcia needed to tell the girl was being honest. Garcia and his men grab him by the arms and were about to begin their walk to the hangar, when they turn their attention to a voice that hollered, "Wait!"

Garcia glares at her before finally asking her, "What?"

"You said you needed the pilot and the mechanic, right?"

"...Yes, I did. What of it?"

"I'm the mechanic! Do you seriously think that guy could handle that thing all on his own?"

Garcia turns to a baffled Kira and asks, "Is this true?"

Kira turns his attention to the pair of fierce amber eyes looking his way, before turning back and giving him his answer.

"Yes."

With that said, the Admiral leaves his second in command with Kira and fetches Cagalli. Soon enough, they're marching silently along to the hangar, with the guards following close behind. Sai grimaces as Flay brings a kitchen towel to his bruise and Tolle asks the question on everyone's minds.

"Why'd you say that?"

Narrowing her eyes at Tolle, she replies, "Because it's the truth!"

"Did you even think about what would happen to Kira?"

"Stop talking down to me like that!" Flay cries, now turning her attention completely to him. "Kira may be a Coordinator, but he's on our side, and this is an allied base, right? What's the big deal?!"

"Who the heck do you think the Earth forces are fighting against?!"

Flay flinches at Tolle's words, but quickly recovers and gives him a quick glare before turning her attention back to Sai.

* * *

In the Hangar Bay

The small group comes to a halt as they reach their destination. Kira turns to his attention towards Garcia and speaks.

"So you want us to release the lock on the OS, right?"

Everyone in the room lets out small gasps and mutters of disbelief at the kid's apparent hand in the OS lock.

"For starters. But you two can do so many other things, right?" Garcia asks with a smirk.

"Such as?" Cagalli asked flatly.

Looking upwards at the Strike, he speaks.

"For example, you can analyze the structure of this and build another, or make an anti-MS weapon, right?"

"We're civilian students, not soldiers or military contractors. Why should we have to do such things?" Kira questions.

Garcia turns back to Kira with that dastardly smirk of his and replies.

"But you're a traitor to the Coordinators."

Kira's eyes widen at this. "A traitor?"

"I've no idea why, but regardless you betrayed your own people, did you not? In which case…"

"That's a load of shit!" Cagalli replies heatedly, much to the distressed Kira's surprise. "We're neutral! Are you seriously saying that Kira's with ZAFT because he's a coordinator?"

"You say you're neutral, yet you're the mechanic of a mobile suit."

"That's-!"

"Regardless, it's rare to see a coordinator on our side. You're very valuable to us, so don't worry. Unlike the Atlantic Federation, you'll be treated well here."

With that said, Kira and Cagalli are "escorted" to the Strike. Two technicians and a guard stand at the entrance. Once they're in the cockpit, Cagalli sets to work as slowly as possible. Kira looks on in confusion, still trying to piece together what to make of the situation, but he was sure of one thing. He was glad that he wasn't alone in this. Kira looks over to the guards and glares before turning his attention to Cagalli, who pulls at his sleeves.

"Help me with this, will you?"

"Oh, sure."

With that said Kira scooches into the pilot seat, and Cagalli stands to the side, watching as the boy works as slowly as possible.

'Here's to hoping this situation gets better. '

As if in response to Cagalli's prayers, everything started to quake, much to everyone's confusion and surprise.

"What was that? What happened?" Garcia asked as the tremors got more frequent and intense.

Kira and Cagalli look up in shock. In the Admiral's office, Natarle shoots upfront her seat.

"What's that?" she asks.

Kira's friends in the cafeteria don't react much differently. Back in the hangar, Garcia takes out his walkie-talkie and holds a button.

"Control room! What's going on? What were those tremors?" he asks.

"Unknown, sir! There's nothing within the perimeter!" A slightly panicked voice replies.

Looking up from the device, Garcia exclaims, "But those were explosions!"

Kira grunts as another shockwave occurred.

"An attack?" he asks to no one in particular, while Cagalli groans and facepalms at their luck.

"It could be a long range attack!" An officer from the control room speculates. "Open the umbrella, Rize! What are you doing?!"

Soon after the orders leaves his lips, the machines outside rising, ready to re-activate the force field. Unfortunately, their aggressor notices this.

"That's it!" Nicol exclaims. De-activating his camouflage and igniting his beam saber, he charges and slices a reflector clean in two with a vertical swipe. He wastes no time in dashing away from the ensuing explosion. In the control room, one of the officers speaks into the comms, "Th-There's a mobile suit within the defense perimeter! Our reflectors are being destroyed!"

"What?!"

The Blitz hovers before yet another exploding reflector.

"Is that the port?" Nicol wonders aloud. With that question in mind, he steers the Blitz around and dashes for a huge metal circular door on the other side of the asteroid to find out. Back in the cafeteria, Arnold walks up to the two guards standing at the sides of the door.

"Why's the alarm going off?"

They stutter and pause, unable to give him a proper answer. At this point, Dalida, Jackie, and Murdoch join in.

"Don't you know?" Jackie asks incredulously.

"Then go and ask!" Arnold exclaims. "No matter how you look at it, this has to be an attack!"

With that said, he shoves past guards and runs to the bridge.

"Stop!" They cry, as they run out of the door and aim their rifles at him. This was everyone's chance. With that in mind, Tolle, Sai, Dalida and Jackie tackle the guards to the ground.

"You've got to get your priorities straight!" Dalida exclaims.

* * *

On the Bridge

Eurasian technicians run out of the Bridge as Arnold and the others enter. Once they're seated, Arnold orders the Archangel's start up.

"The Captain and the others aren't here!" Romero says.

At this moment, everyone turns their attention to two new presences. Judging from their attire, they're civilians. The younger of the two speaks first.

"We'd like to help in any way we can."

"We can't stick to the sidelines and have children protect adults," the older one says. The crew turns to each other with wary expressions, completely at a loss at what to do. Eventually, Dalida turns to them and speaks.

"Alright, come here and man the beam cannons."

With a quick "thank you," they hop over and seat themselves at the weapons station.

"Do any of you have any experience?" Neuman asked.

"I used to pilot a Mistral to help with getting rid of any debris at Heliopolis," The older man stated

"Same here," The young man followed.

"Well...that'll have to do."

* * *

 _ **In the Admiral's Office**_

Having risen from their seats, Mu, Natarle, and Murrue raised their eyes to the ceiling as the tremors continue.

"The enemy got through!" Mu cries.

With that said, he develops a plan and cries (much to Natarle and Murrue's confusion), "there's a crack in the wall from that last explosion! Air's leaking!"

Seeing his companions' confusion, he lowers his hands slightly and turns to them.

"Shout something. Make them open the door," he says with a hushed tone. A look of recognition crosses Murrue's face, and she joins with a deafening shriek. Soon after that, Murrue joins Mu in his false pleas. Natarle look to the two in confusion as Mu makes his way to the door and takes cover left of it. Moments later, a guard walks in. Mu makes his move the moment of his arrival and strikes the guard in the back of his neck. The guard falls with a groan, out cold.

"Lieutenant?" Natarle asks, equally surprised and confused. At this point, another guard walks into the room and meets a very similar fate. Dropping the unconscious guard gently, he turns his attention to the two women and speaks with a cocky smile.

"We're in a hurry."

Natarle still looks on in uncertainty for a few moments before turning to Murrue, who has already started to make her way to the door.

"I certainly don't want to die here in Artemis. Sorry!"

Natarle lets out a sigh and follows.

Meanwhile, a battalion of mobile armors and battleships are sent to the port in an attempt to protect it. Two Moebius units fire their linear rifles at the speeding Blitz, that dashes aside from their fire and shoots them down with its rifle.

Back at the hangar bay, Garcia complains to no avail as to how Artemis was breached.

"They got through the Umbrella? That's impossible!"

On the hatch of the Strike, the Eurasian men turn their attention down to their commander. Taking note of this, Kira puts down the keyboard and kicks the Guard away. The remaining men just look on in shock as the hatch closes, forcing them back. Garcia curses as the Strike makes its way to the launch catapult.

"This is hardly the time for this!" Kira says. "We're under attack, aren't we?"

After a few more steps, Kira halts the Strike and re-opens the cockpit, much to Cagalli's confusion.

"What are you doing?" She asks. She gets the gist of Kira's answer when he nudges her out of the cockpit.

"Dammit Kira, I'm fine! I can help too!"

"You're hurt."

Kira does his best not to flinch under Cagalli's stare as she speaks.

" I can handle it," She deadpans. "Do you seriously think that I can't take care of myself? We're wasting time!"

"I think that as mechanic, you need to stay here."

With that said, Kira shoves Cagalli out of the cockpit and quickly closes the hatch before finally returning to his walk to the launch catapult. Cagalli swears, before turning her attention to Lieutenant Mu's dormant Moebius Zero. Cagalli floats to the ground and hops into the mobile armor, much to Murdoch (who had just recently arrived) and everyone's protest. She ignores them as she checks over the controls and straps herself in.

"Get out of that thing, girl! This mobile armor isn't something you can pilot!"

"Shut up and open the hatch!"

With that said, Cagalli revs up the thrusters, almost knocking back a few officers that tried to close in and get her out. With a curse, Murdoch orders the hatch to be opened. Within moments, the mobile armor can be seen accelerating out of the ship and making its way to the enemy, albeit very clumsily.

* * *

On the bridge, Miriallia gasps as she informs the crew of Cagalli's launch.

"What?" Arnold questioned.

"Does that mean Lt. La Flaga and the others are back?" Sai asks.

"I guess…" Tolle muses.

* * *

Nicol dispatches another attacking Moebius with ease. Darting past the ashes, he spots the Strike wearing its sword pack, hovering towards him.

"It's him!"

'I'll get him today!'

With that final thought, Nicol hurls his left-forearm mounted, "Gleipnir" grappling claw, which the Strike counters with its "Panzer Eisen" Rocket anchor. The weapons collide and break apart with a loud, " _klang!"._

"Damn! He's come all the way in here!" Kira exclaims. With that said, the Strike finally takes out its "Schwert Gewer," and rushes to the Blitz, that has retracted its Gleipnir and retreated back slightly.

* * *

The Duel and Buster finally launch from the Gamow to assist their comrade.

"What about the Strike?" Yzak wonders aloud.

"We'll sink him with the whole fortress!" Dearka replies in his typical copy manner. With that said, the two mobile suits resume their journey to the port in silence.

Back on the Archangel, a surprised Murrue, Mu, and Natarle enter the bridge. Murrue floats over to her captain's seat, turning confused eyes to their two new guests.

"Who are the new guys?" Mu asks.

The younger one speaks first, raising his hand.

"Hello, my name is Gary Ronald, and I'm a volunteer, sir."

"And I'm Ryan Lee," the older one said.

"This isn't a school, put your hand down," Mu replies. "Anyhow, it's a pleasure to meet you two."

With that said, Mu makes his way over to Sai and Miriallia. Roughing up their hair with his hands, he speaks.

"Excellent work, kids!"

"What is this base, anyways?" Sai asked incredulously.

Taking note of their current situation, Murrue says, "We can't get around while in here! Archangel, taking off!"

"Wait, if you're here, who's piloting the Moebius?" Sai asks.

"Eh?"

The engines start off with a roar, moving the ship through metal debris. Kira turns his attention to the elevated ship, before gasping as he turns back to the nearing Blitz. The Strike sides away from a beam shot and follows up with a diagonal swing; The Blitz hops back from the attack. At this point, Kira remembers Garcia's words. He shakes his head and swears.

"Just leave us alone!"

With that said, The Strike surges toward the Blitz, which fires a beam volley in response. Kira dashes aside from the shots with his shield raised while still going forward as much as possible. After blocking a few more shots, he reaches his target and swings down hard; Nicol grunts at the force behind the attack as he blocks with his shield and counters with his missiles. Kira screams at the missiles coming his way and sets his CIWS ablaze. While he gets the majority of them, one steered further to the side and smacks the Strike at the side of its chest, knocking it back slightly. Taking advantage of this, the Blitz kicks the Strike back and raises his rifle. Kira stares on in horror at the green light forming. He closes his eyes, waiting for his imminent demise...and opens his eyes at the sound of an explosion that didn't shake the Strike in the slightest.

Nicol and Kira look to see the Moebius Zero, circling slightly clumsily around the Blitz. Kira stares, mouth agape when the communications screen reveals his rescuer was none other than Cagalli.

"Are you okay, Kira?"

Kira nods dumbly, too shocked to speak.

"Then don't just stand there! There's still a battle going on, you know!"

With that said, the Moebius fires a few rounds from the linear rifles at the Blitz; the mobile suit darts aside from the shots and aims its rifle at the Moebius. Cagalli gasps and tries to calm her shaking hands enough to steer away. She's unable to remove her terrified stare from those glaring blue eyes. Taking advantage of the Blitz's distraction, Kira charges once more, swinging wildly at the mobile suit. Nicol yanks the Blitz back with a grunt. With the Blitz now out of the way, Cagalli shakes her head a bit, slightly calming the shaking of her hands, and retreating back a bit

Meanwhile, the Duel and Buster storm through to the port. Explosions erupt at the sides of the entrance as they shoot a few Moebius units and enter the Ovular room.

As a few Moebius units launch to their deaths, Garcia talks fervently among his men.

"What are you doing?" Garcia demanded. " Send out our ships! Artemis can't be defeated by just one enemy!"

Moments after that's said, everyone turns their attention and screams in horror at the crashing Moebius unit (shot by the Buster) heading straight for them. They're only able to let out more screams and bring up their arms in defense before the mobile armor crashes onto the window, cracking it and letting the flames from the ensuing explosion in and enveloping them.

The Buster fires a few more shots from his Gun Launcher and Energy Rifle before turning to his comrade and asking, "Where's the ship?"

"I don't know," Yzak replies, before pressing his comms to call his other comrade. "Nicol! Where are you?"

With that said, the two mobile suits jet apart in opposite directions of the sun-kissed room in search of their ally.

The Archangel steers itself clockwise, narrowly avoiding the explosions occurring just about everywhere in the trembling base. "Recall the Strike and Moebius!" Murrue orders. "We're escaping Artemis from the harbor exit on the opposite side!"

"Kira! Kira, come back!" Miriallia says, much to the boy's surprise. "Archangel's taking off!"

Turning his attention back to the foe before him, he throws his "Midas Messer" beam-a-rang, which the Blitz darts away from. With the Blitz temporarily distracted, Kira quickly turns his attention to Cagalli.

"We're leaving."

"Got it!"

With that said, the two quickly hightail it back to the Archangel. Nicol, having taken care of the beam-a-rang, finally notices the Strike and Moebius' sudden retreat.

"You're running away?!" He cries. He chases after the Strike, but before he could catch up, he's knocked back by an explosion. The Blitz dashes backwards from the explosion. When it makes a decent distance from it, Nicol tilts the Blitz to the direction of an exit and fired up the thrusters. The Strike bursts out of the huge series explosions with the Moebius Zero in both its hands and soon makes its landing on the pad of the ship. On the bridge, Natarle informs the crew of the Strike's return.

"Archangel, take off! Maximum battle speed!"

Within moments, the Ship can be seen quickly flying out of the now exploding entrance. Outside the burning fortress, the Gundam trio watch as the ship makes its escape. Nicol lets out a frustrated growl, glaring at the ship.

Kira steps out of the de-powered Strike and floats down to the Moebius. Cagalli steps out and hides her trembling hands in her pockets. Grabbing her by the shoulders (much to her surprise), he screams the biggest question on his mind.

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

Swatting Kira's arms away, Cagalli replies, "I was thinking you were in over your head!"

"And you're not?! You could have died!"

"You could have too! You were just standing there, waiting to get shot!"

At that point, Kira lost all patience. Silence ensued for several seconds as a shocked Cagalli held a hand to a growing red spot on her face.

"You get inside a mobile armor and fight against a mobile suit, and that's all you've got to say?! Did you even think of the consequences?"

Glaring at Kira, Cagalli counters, "How about all the times you almost died?! You want me to sit back no wait, hoping that you won't come back burned to a crisp? Last time, the only reason you survived was because that red one tried capture you!"

Kira flinches at the mention of the Aegis, before replying with his head slightly lowered.

"You're right. I was just lucky that one wasn't really trying, and that I had Mu to back me up. That's why having you pilot that mobile armor would just give me more to worry about! Two amateurs can't fight a damn war!"

Cagalli flinches at his words and goes silent. She lowers her head down a bit, before finally speaking.

"It's just so frustrating...I see you go out in the mobile suit, you of all people, fighting for all our lives and here I am, moping around, unable to do anything but help with that thing's maintenance! I just wanted to…"

Cagalli stops, unable to stop the tears streaming down her face. She quickly wipes them and calms down after a few seconds.

"And then there's that guy… Who is he? He can't possibly be Athrun, right Kira?"

Kira looks away with that sorrowful and conflicted expression of his. Noticing this, Cagalli grabs him by the shoulders and shakes him slightly.

"Hey, look at me! Answer me, dammit!"

Finally, Kira relents with a small nod. Cagalli backs off a few feet before finally replying, "I see."

Mu and Murdoch look on in complete bemusement at the entire ordeal unfolding before them.

"Wonder what they're talking about," Murdoch wonders aloud.

A few moments later, Kira and Cagalli make their way to their way to the resting quarters, completely ignoring Mu and Murdoch.

"What's the matter with them?" Mu asks. Murdoch just shrugs.

Kira slid open the door to his room. It was completely dark, and there wasn't a single soul around. Perfect.

He sat on the bed and let out a tired sigh before lying down, facing the wall. A few moments later, Birdy came flying into the room.

"Kira…"

The boy remains silent.

"Thanks."

The brunette's eyes widen at this, but before he can even reply, Cagalli closes the door and walks off. In the silence, he eventually closes his eyes, finally drifting off into the peacefulness of slumber.


	7. Chapter 7

The Vesalius had returned from their failed operation to destroy or capture the Strike and were now having a small period of time to rest.

The ship reached ZAFT territory as they spotted the huge, blue and hourglass-shaped colonies ahead of them.

 _ **Aboard the Vesalius's bridge**_

''We've caught the guide beacon," one of the crewmen informs as a screen pops up, displaying their current location and their path.

''Instructions have been given to enter the Number 4 dock," the navigator interjects. ''Match entry beacon… Beacon detection confirmed!''

''Course correction 0.3, mark 16.2 Delta. Turn around 180 degrees and begin deceleration.''

Soon enough, the ship has steered itself around and backed up slowly, ready to dock to the main base.

''So, will you be bringing Athrun Zala to the inquiry?'' Ades asks.

''Yes. He was there when the incident took place. He's also capable of analyzing things calmly and objectively,'' Rau answered with a neutral tone typical of him.

''I understand that Orb is protesting emphatically," The captain continues.

''The important thing here is what the problem is from **our** perspective, Ades..''

''Y-yes," he replies reluctantly.

''Hurry up with the repairs and resupply of the Vesalius," Rau orders, now looking at the main screen that displays the ship maintenance hangar. "We may have been given time to rest, but not that much. Not likely, anyway.''

* * *

 _ **On the Bridge of the Archangel**_

"Reconfirmed. No sign of enemy ships within 5000 kilometers," Jackie informs. "It seems as though they've lost us."

Hearing this, Murrue rests her chin in her hands and let out a tired sigh.

"Artemis got all the attention, so we were able to get out unnoticed," Mu remarks, before turning himself around with a reassuring smile. "We should be thankful for that alone."

"However…" Natarle starts.

"I know," An up straight Murrue begins. "We're fortunate that the Laurasia-Class lost us, but we haven't been able to solve one of our problems."

* * *

 _ **In the Cafeteria**_

"What? Do I have to?" A pouting Flay asked.

"Well, I can't force you to, but don't you think you should apologize, given the current situation?" Sai reasons. Flay then turns her attention to Tolle, who points an accusing finger at her and says, "It's a fact that he went through all kinds of trouble because of what you said."

"But still! All I said was…"

"We're used to it, but in this situation, the fact that he's a coordinator poses a delicate problem."

"Anyway, could you at least tell him you're sorry?" Sai asks as he continues to speak. "Otherwise, it might be unpleasant when you two meet face-to-face."

"If you insist, Sai, I'll say it."

Turning to Sai, a concerned Tolle speaks.

"But I wonder what's gonna happen to the ship from now on."

A slightly frazzled Sai hums in agreement before adding, "We couldn't get any supplies from Artemis, could we?"

"No."

"I wonder if ZAFT's gonna keep chasing us."

* * *

 _ **Inside a ZAFT ship-maintenance base**_

Rau and Athrun head towards the shuttle where they (to Athrun's surprise) meet up with NDC Chairman Zala. Patrick Zala turns his attention to the two new presences on board.

Rau salutes respectfully, with Athrun following likewise.

"We will be accompanying you, your excellency, National Defense Committee Chairman Zala."

''No need for formalities here,'' the chairman starts with a dismissive wave of the hand, before turning his attention to Athrun. "You never saw me on this shuttle. Got that, Athrun?"

"I understand that, Father. Long time no see."

As the shuttle takes off, the seated Athrun and Rau begin their conversation.

"Needless to say, I agree with your opinion included in your report," Patrick starts. "The problem is the fact that they've developed such advanced mobile suits...We will ignore the part about the pilot." At this, Athrun turned all eyes and ears to the chairman with a small gasp.

"I went ahead and deleted that section," he adds.

"Thank you very much. I was confident that you would make that decision," Rau replied, much to the bluenette's confusion.

"Just thinking of the reaction if we told them...that the machine that we left behind is piloted by a Coordinator. It's already bad enough that 'Glittering Star J' traitor sided with them. This would give the moderate faction something unnecessary to argue about."

Athrun looks to his father with concerned eyes while Rau turns to him and asks, "But, wouldn't you also find it difficult to have your friend be referred to as someone who switched sides to the Earth Forces, due to the report?"

A surprised Athrun replied, "Uh...no, but…"

Patrick Zala face turned towards Athrun and spoke with a seriousness.

"The Naturals created a mobile suit that can perform that well even with a Natural piloting it. **That's** what we're reporting. Got that, Athrun?"

Athrun looked at him with a blank face, remembering his earlier encounters with his old friends before finally breathing out his reply.

"Yes."

"I don't like doing this either. But we do this so we can bring a quick end to this war."

Silence returns to the shuttle as it continues its journey to the PLANT.

* * *

 _ **In the Cafeteria of the Archangel**_

Kira's friends have all been given a small break and gotten a bite to eat. Tolle had unfortunately swallowed more than he could chew, and is currently choking to death.

"W-water!" Tolle cries out, patting his chest in an attempt to prevent himself from choking and garnering his friends' attention. Miriallia lets out an annoyed moan before passing him her glass. Tolle jugs the whole thing down in a matter of seconds, before resuming his chest bashing and crying, "W-water! I need more water!"

"Stop telling inappropriate jokes that aren't funny," Sai chided.

"I'm not joking, dammit! I coulda died there!"

Sai doesn't reply and seats himself next to Flay, who slides away from him. Confused, Sai slides towards her again, only to be met with the same results. This happens one more time before he finally asks, "what's wrong?"

Flay studies the ground with a blushed face and answers.

"Because of the water restrictions, I wasn't able to take a shower."

At this, everyone turns their head to the girl. Sai lets out a sigh. Just then, Kira walked in. Standing up, Tolle asks, "you're finished with the Strike's maintenance?"

"Yeah, but the limited use of water just makes things so much more burdensome."

Flay lets out a small sigh when Sai nudges her slightly. She turns to him for a moment, before turning back to Kira and walking over to him. Everyone watches as the scene unfolds with great anticipation.

"U-um, Kira?" She asks. The boy only lets out a confused grunt as she bows to him.

"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday!"

With that said, Flay rises back and adds, "I said those things without really thinking."

"About what?"

"At Artemis. I said you were a coordinator."

Kira's expression solemnized a bit before smiling at her and replying, "Oh, never mind that. I'm not upset about it."

His gaze goes down to Sai.

"Besides," he adds. " it's true, and even if you didn't say anything, the situation would've been a lot worse."

Hearing this, Flay smiles and replies with a quick, "thank you," and turns her attention to Sai, who simply turns away. Kira walks over to the counter and gets a tray of his own before walking out.

"Hey, where are you going?" Tolle asks.

Smiling awkwardly at him, he replies.

"I just wanted to eat outside."

With that said, the boy walks off. Tolle looks at the leaving coordinator with a confused glance before finally sighing and leaning back in his seat.

"He's many things, but a good liar isn't one of them."

* * *

 _ **In the Brig Room**_

Kira walks in silence through the empty and cold halls leading to the brig. The door opened, unveiling its only inhabitant. She was laying in bed, looking up with irritation when she turned her attention to the new presence. Kira gives her a worried smile.

"Hey. I brought you lunch."

She remains silent as he gives her the tray. She wolfs down the food as soon as it reaches her hands. Kira watches on in equal awe and amusement.

"Thanks. So, how much longer am I going to stay here, and what are those guys up to now?"

Kira shakes his head, unable to give an answer. She shifts her attention towards the walls with an unreadable expression.

"I see…"

The brunette's expression hardens at the tone of her voice. He hated seeing her like this.

"... Are you okay?"

"Hmmm...lets see. I'm stuck down here in a prison cell on a warship with no knowledge of what's going on, Heliopolis is in ashes, Athrun's apparently trying to sink us, and my cousin's piloting a mobile suit. Oh, did I mention, _I'm locked in a cell?"_

With a nervous smile, Kira replied, "So you're fine?"

Cagalli glared at him and replied.

"Not… Funny."

Kira let out a small chuckle. One punch in the shoulder later, he sobers up and speaks.

"Look, I'm as lost as you are. We'll just have to be patient, alright?"

Cagalli lets out a "hmph!" In response.

* * *

 _ **On the Bridge**_

Elsewhere, the bridge crew discussed among themselves on what route to take. A geographic screen pops up, displaying and mapping out routes to the moon, or more specifically, lunar orbit.

"Is this our best position?" Natarle asks before turning to Murrue. "Isn't there a better route?"

"Impossible," Arnold replies while turning to face her. "If we set our route too close to Earth, we'll end up entering the debris belt."

With that said, he turns back to his console as the screen displays another route.

"Even though taking that route would get us to lunar orbit sooner."

At this point, Murrue speaks.

"Can't we go through it?"

"The Debris belt? That's impossible!" Arnold replied incredulously. "If we attempted to go through it while maintaining this speed, we'd end up as part of the Debris."

"A mountain of garbage that humanity scattered ever since going into space," Mu mused. "It's true that we don't wanna be part of that- wait a minute. The debris belt."

At this, Murrue tilts her head in confusion. Mu swivels his chair around and says, "I'm a man who makes the impossible possible, right?"

* * *

 _ **Inside the PLANT Colony**_

Athrun and Rau head towards the command center of the Supreme Council and are now inside a descending elevator. Rau sits in a lounge chair while Athrun stands. As the elevator descends, the TV monitor flashes to life, displaying images of a blonde mustached man of great stature, along with a youthful pink haired girl. This man was none other than Chairman Clyne with his daughter Lacus Clyne, and a handful of council members standing behind a podium as the chairman gave his speech.

''That unfortunate incident has left us with a deep sorrow that we will never forget…-''

just then, Rau asked, ''By the way, aren't you engaged to that girl?''

The speech is completely forgotten to a surprised Athrun as he answers, "Yes."

''I hear Miss Lacus is also going with the memorial delegation. That is wonderful.''

''Yes," he replies curtly.

''You two, the children of Committee Chairman Zala and Chairman Clyne, tying the knot. It's certain to bring a bright light to the next generation. We're counting on you,"' Rau says.

''Thank you very much," he replies in a salute stance.

After a few moments of quiet, Rau speaks again.

"It's our responsibility right now to protect that generation."

Athrun expression hardens at this and silence is returned to the elevator. Their scene changes to the dim council room. A crystal shaped lamp hangs over a circular table. Sitting in around it are 12 Committee members who represent each of their colonies. Athrun and Rau sit quietly on a couch far from the table. With everyone gathered and comfortable, Chairman Clyne speaks.

"The Committee of the Supreme Council shall now commence its special inquiry on the recent collapse of Heliopolis, a territory of the ORB union. First, Rau Le Creuset. You shall start by delivering your report."

"Yes sir," Rau replied as he stood up.

* * *

 _ **On the Bridge of the Archangel**_

As the Archangel makes its way to the debris belt, Kira, and his friends (along with Flay and a released Cagalli), are gathered on the bridge for an important meeting by Captain Ramius. With everyone together, Lieutenant La Flaga fills the kids in on their plan. Soon after Mu finishes, Sai speaks.

"Supplies?" He asks, his face not betraying the incredulity in his voice.

"Get supplies, yes," Mu confirmed. "Or more accurately, _take_ supplies."

"We're currently on our way to the debris belt," Murrue stated. Kira's friends gave blank and confused stares at this revelation. After a few moments of silence, Sai puts two and two together.

"You're not saying…"

"You're pretty bright," Mu replied with his typical casual tone.

"The debris belt consists of a wide variety of things drifting in space," Murrue added. " Of course, that includes ships that have been destroyed in battle."

"You're not suggesting we get our supplies from there, are you?"

"What other choice do we have? Unless we do, we're not gonna last," Mu points out.

"Once we're there, we'd like you to help us with work outside the ship, using pods."

Everyone stared ahead warily at the Captain. At this point, Natarle chimes in.

"We're not too delighted about this, either. But if we're gonna survive, there's no other option."

"We're not going there to hunt around for things others have lost. We're just going to take a small share of what we're in immediate need of." Her expression softens.

"In order to live."

Cagalli shifts her eyes to Kira; this goes by completely unnoticed by the boy as he goes into his thoughts.

* * *

 _ **Inside a PLANT Colony during a Council Meeting**_

"...I believe you can understand from the course of events you just saw that our actions were not intended as an attack on Heliopolis itself and that the biggest reason for the collapse lies with the Earth Forces. That concludes my report." After finishing, Rau Le Creuset salutes and returns to his seat. Hearing this, the members begin to discuss amongst themselves.

"So Orb was working for the earth forces, after all," Tad Elsman remarks. "They're the ones who ignored the treaty."

At this point, another council member chimes in.

"However, representative Attha has…"

"We can't trust anything those living on Earth say!"

One council member stands from his seat and speaks with a seriousness not betraying the look on his face.

"However, Commander Le Creuset, are the mobile suits of the Earth forces really valuable enough to account for all the sacrifices made for them?"

Rau stood and replied.

"To explain their marvelous abilities to you, I have one of our pilots here with me, who has not only piloted one of these machines, but has also battled with the one we failed to take."

Athrun turns to the masked man as he continues. "I request to have Athrun Zala report on this."

Athrun now turns his attention to the Supreme Council with a neutral expression. After a few moments of silence, Chairman Clyne speaks.

'I will allow Athrun Zala to report."

Athrun walks over to the spotlight and salutes. He took a small sigh and began his report as the viewing screens all flickered to life, displaying footage of the Aegis in action. Shocked gasps waft around the council room.

"First, this is the machine known as the GAT-X303 Aegis," Athrun began. Rau sheds a grim smirk has he witnesses everyone's shocked expression on seeing the G-Weapon firsthand as Athrun continues speaking.

"One major characteristic is its ability to transform. Due to its frame structure being fundamentally different from the other four machines, this machine is able to transform into a mobile armor. Upon transformation, it is equipped with a major weapon. A 580-millimeter dual-phase energy cannon called Scylla.

This, along with the other machines comes with an implanted armor known as the Phase Shift Armor, which has yet to be tested in actual battle. At present, we are reprogramming the OS to bring out its maximum potential. Judging from its specs, it is believed that this is superior to ZAFT's strongest weapon, the GINN in both mobility and power."

The screen now shows the Duel.

"The GAT-X102 , Duel. This machine was developed with close-range battle in mind and has a wide range of uses. Like the other machines, it has anti-space multi-barrel Igelstellungs as well as a beam saber and an anti-beam shield."

The screen then shifts to the Buster.

"The GAT-X103, Buster, is a machine built with the ability to fight in long-range, multi-fire battles. It is believed that this machine was built primarily to back up others, for firing at the enemy. It is not equipped with a shield but it has a 350-millimeter gun launcher that uses attachments to become an ultrahigh-impulse long-range sniper rifle, an anti-armor shotgun, and a high-energy focused beam rifle."

The screen moves on to the Blitz.

"The GAT-X207, Blitz. By covering it's armor surface with a corpuscle gas called Mirage Colloid, this machine becomes virtually invisible to enemy eyes. Despite the disadvantage of its inability to use Phase Shift Armor while this is in use, it allows it to sneak up quickly to its target and destroy it. It's believed this machine was developed for use in lightning attacks. It is also equipped with its own weapons, Trikeros and Gleipnir."

* * *

 _ **Outside of Space**_

Kira steels himself as the Aile Strike is flung out of the launch catapult and activates its phase shift. Soon enough, he runs into his comrades; A handful of Mistral units. The group ascends cautiously into the debris field.

* * *

 _ **At the Council Meeting**_

After the screen finished showcasing the Blitz, it finally moved on to the Strike.

"Finally, the one machine that got away," Athrun started. "From our battles against it, we know that it is a machine suitable for wide range battles. It is believed to be the development basis for the other four machines. Switching it's equipment between Launcher, Sword, and Aile armaments. We can determine from the image that the cannon used when the Launcher is attached is an ultrahigh-impulse 320-millimeter cannon. It is assumed that it also has a 120-millimeter anti-ship Vulcan and a 350-millimeter gun launcher. With the Sword armament, it is equipped with a 15-meter long anti-ship blade and a beam boomerang. Furthermore, it holds two knives in its waist section and is assumed to be a machine that can fight at an advanced level. And there you have it."

The viewing screens closed with footage of the Launcher Strike, and Athrun, now finished with his report, salutes and walks back over to his seat. Needless to say, seeing the abilities the new units built by the Earth Forces, the Council was even more shocked.

''They've created these terrible things! Damn Naturals!" Ted Elsman cursed.

''But they're only at prototype stage, right? You can't consider a mere five mobile suits to be a threat,'' Eileen Canaver reasons. At this point, Ezalia Joule chimed in.

''Still, if they've come this far. Their next step would be to mass produce them!"  
The room was now filled with heated arguments as to what actions to take to stop the new threat that the Naturals possess which were soon silenced by Chairman Clyne. At this point, Patrick speaks.

"There is no one who prefers to fight. Who among us actually _**likes**_ heading out to a battlefield? We want to live peacefully, gracefully, and happily. To live in freedom. This has been our only wish, but who came in, to ruthlessly shatter that wish? Who took our freedom away for their own convenience and ambition, only to continue using us?" Patrick is now standing and brings his hands up towards both sides of the table. "We will never forget that Bloody Valentine. The Tragedy of Junius Seven!"

Everyone's mind flashed back the horrible image of a colony in ashes. How confused all those unsuspecting innocent people were, and the horror they must have felt upon realization. Yes, they would never- could never forget about the Junius Seven incident.

Patrick continues with hatred gleaming in his eyes.

"243, 721 people. It's been a year since we lost all those countrymen in that abominable incident. Yet we've wracked our brains to try and end this war quickly with minimal demands, only to find these efforts thrown to waste, time and time again!" Patrick raises a fist to his chest. "We fight to protect ourselves. If we cannot protect without fighting, then we've no choice but to fight!"

The council members all sit silently and twiddle their thumbs in thought at Zala's words. Clyne looks around before finally letting out a tired sigh.

* * *

 _ **At the Debris Belt**_

Murrue watches the Strike and Mistral units making their way through the debris-cluttered depths of space closely. Inside of one of the mobile workers are Sai and Natarle, who look on cautiously through the vicinity, when Sai gasps. Kira and Cagalli react likewise. The Strike and Mistral units came to a halt as their pilots took in a sight that left them stammering.

"Why, this is…" Tolle started, but never really finished. He looked around the area in great surprise and confusion. Before him laid broken remnants of land and metal. Broken down and twisted support beams, remnants of Trees, and pieces of buildings were floating around aimlessly just about everywhere. Below the floating rubble was a rocky ground the color of storm clouds. In short, it was a wasteland.

"A continent? Out here?"

It took just a glance for Kira to figure out what this place was, or at least, once was.

"Junius Seven…"

On the bridge, Murrue shot up with a startled gasp.

The Strike stood on on the ground with an opened hatch, next to the Mistral units. A pair of pilots hop out of their units and float over to the broken colony. Elsewhere on that god forsaken rock are Kira, Cagalli, Sai, Tolle, Natarle, and Miriallia, who have made their way to a building. Natarle opens the door and flicks on her flashlight.

No one was prepared for what was next seen; The disfigured corpse of a mother and her child, floating haphazardly through the room. Their clothes (or rather, what remained of them) were torn and full of dried up blood. The mother's head tilted at an unusual angle and bone protruded out of their decayed flesh. Miriallia let out a terrified shriek and quickly closed her eyes as tightly as they would allow her. Soon enough, she was in a worried Tolle's arms. Kira, Cagalli, and Sai gaze solemnly at the unfortunate sight, while Natarle turns her attention elsewhere. Kira grimaces as he looks at a burned teddy bear floating around.

 _ **On the Archangel Bridge**_

The group had finally returned from their journey to the ruins of Junius seven. Unfortunately, a conflict had arisen on the subject of what to do now. Everyone stood (or floated) by the bridge with their gloves or helmets off.

"The water over there?! Are you serious?!" Kira cried incredulously.

"There's close to a hundred million tons of water frozen over on it," Natarle reasons.

"But you saw for yourself, didn't you, Ms. Natarle? That PLANT is where hundreds of thousands lost their lives, And yet…"

"That's the only water we've been able to find," Murrue interjects. At this point, Mu chimes in.

"No one's jumping for joy," he states solemnly. "No one's shouting, 'Hooray! We found water!'"

Kira turns to the man. "Lieutenant La Flaga…"

"Nobody wants to step onto that place if it can be helped, but right now, it can't!"

He points a thumb to himself and straightens up as he speaks with great voracity.

"We're alive! That means we must continue to live!"

Everyone gasps at the Lieutenant's words. Kira still looked reluctant on the idea, but it didn't look like he could argue any further. Cagalli and Kira's friends were on the same boat. As much as it pained them to admit it, Mu was right; they had to live.

 _ **-After the end of the Supreme Council Meeting -**_

Athrun was standing right outside the door, saluting to the leaders as they left. Siegel notices Athrun and approaches him. Athrun noticing this, he salutes politely.  
"Your Excellency Chairman Clyne!''

''You know there's no need to stand on ceremony with me, " he says as he halts Athrun from his salute.

''Well, I-" That's all the bluenette managed to get out before the chairman continued.

''Now that you've finally returned, Lacus is away on business. When will you two finally make some free time to see each other?''

With that said, he began to walk and turned a sidewise glance to Athrun, expecting him to follow. A slightly flustered Athrun replies as he walks behind the old man.

''Well, I'm sorry, sir.''

"There's no need to apologize to me," Siegel spoke with a chuckle. "However, things are going to get hectic again. Although I can understand your father's comments."

At that moment, Rau walked in with a solemn look on his face.

"Athrun! We're going after that newly-made ship and mobile suit."

Athrun lets out a small gasp that goes unnoticed by everyone as Rau continues.

"The Laconi and Porto teams are joining under my command. We're leaving in 72 hours."

"Yes, sir!"

With that out of the way, Rau turns his attention to the chairman and salutes.

"Excuse us, your excellency chairman Clyne."

Athrun turns and does likewise, before walking away with Rau, while Patrick Zala walks over to Siegel, who watches as he walks to his side and looks up to the Evidence 01 Fossil.

"We have little time," Siegel started. "What good will it do to escalate the war?"

"That's exactly why we can't forgive them. Those who get in our way," Patrick replied, putting emphasis towards at the end as he locks eyes with Siegel.

Meanwhile, a car makes its way through the city streets. driving it is Athrun, and sitting beside him is Rau. As they make their way towards the ship, Rau turned on the radio and heard a beautiful and familiar voice both he and Athrun knew all too well. Le Creuset smiles and relaxes in his chair while Athrun (still driving) looks to his right to see Lacus on a titan Tron singing to the people of the PLANT.

 _ **At the Debris of Junius Seven**_

A spacesuit-clad Miriallia shifts her gaze down to the frozen water of Junius Seven with origami flowers in her hands. She stands along with her friends and a small group of Heliopolis kids, with the Strike and Mistral units on the rocky ground of a cliff. Across from them was the Archangel. Heaving a small sigh, she releases the origami flowers. On the Archangel's bridge, everyone stands and salutes with their eyes closed, silently giving their prayers and respects to the unfortunate souls that lost their lives here. Kira and Cagalli gaze solemnly at the sea of scattered papered flowers. Kira thinks back to his encounter with Athrun, and what he had told him. He still had trouble believing Athrun's mother was dead. It felt like just yesterday she was smiling at him while he was over at Athrun's house. Standing next to Kira, Cagalli shuddered. She had always hated funerals (not like there was anyone who particularly liked them either), but this was worse.

A dreadful atmosphere loomed over the place. At the risk of sounding crazy, it was like she could _see_ the lingering wills of the deceased here. Pain and sorrow had manifested into balls of dim light. As she finally tore her gaze away from the frozen abyss, she looked over to Kira and found herself wondering...wondering if he felt the same.

 _ **At the PLANT Cemetery**_

Athrun stands before a grave with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. The wind blows softly as he kneels down and places them there. Thinking back on it, it really had been a while since he last visited her. Sure, it was because of his work, but that still didn't feel like a good enough excuse. He couldn't help but wonder, what she'd think. Of him. Of Kira and Cagalli. He let out a tired sigh; Mother always knew what to do in tough situations. He stared wistfully at the grave of Lenore Zala and silently wished she was here. As he finished paying his respects, the bluenette recalled his father's words at the council meeting and began making his way back to his ship.

 _ **At the Debris of Junius Seven**_

The Strike slowly hovered about as chainsaw equipped Mistral units set to work on cutting the ice. Kira turned around and looked both ways before noticing a small white and baby green ship full of holes and tears.

"A civilian ship?" he wondered aloud. ' _The thing must've been sunk.'_

Kira was quickly snapped out of his reverie by the soft beeping of the alarms. He looked up to see a black and gold GINN hovering above the ship. Kira quickly goes behind a bunch of rubble and watches it closely.

"A Long Range Reconnaissance GINN?!" What's it doing here?"

The mobile suit brings a hand to the bridge of the sunken ship before flashing its mono-eye left and right and turning around with its rifle raised. It slowly backed away from the ship looking around warily. Kira looks to the screen where the Archangel could be seen.

"If it finds the Archangel and calls for backup, we're finished."

With that said, the Strike slowly brings its rifle out of its lower back side. Soon enough, the aiming device locks onto the unit, but Kira doesn't fire just yet. Beads of sweat were forming on the boy as he narrowed his eye at his oblivious target. His grip on the controls tightened and released in anxiousness. It was strange, really; didn't he just rip a GINN apart just a few days ago? What was stopping him now? He almost wanted to laugh at the situation of it all.

' _Come on, just leave already!'_

After a few more moments of this, the GINN finally began its trek back to wherever it came from. Kira let out a relieved breath...which was almost immediately followed up with a gasp as a Mistral flew into his line of sight. This doesn't go unnoticed by the GINN. It quickly turned around and flew towards the unit.

"You fool! Why'd you have to notice?!" Kira cries in frustration as he locked on the mobile suit once again.

Inside the Mistral are Kuzzey and Dalida, who look on in equal surprise and horror.

"It's ZAFT!" Dalida exclaimed.

The GINN took aim and fired; the first shot missed, but it was determined not to make the same mistake twice. It adjusted the aim and was about to take another shot when a brilliant flash of green came out of nowhere and tore off its left arm. The mobile suit staggered back slightly and brought his trembling broken arm up to the Strike; Kira took it down in another two shots before it could fire. The GINN fell back with a gushing chest that erupted into a brilliant fireball of pinkish light. A trembling Kira put back the aiming device as he looked on in horror at the explosion where the GINN and its pilot once were. Over the comms, the relieved voice of Kuzzey speaks.

"T-thanks, Kira. I seriously thought I was about to die."

"Kid! What hap…?"

That's the last word Kira hears before angrily turning off the radio comms and slamming his fists on the controls. His eyes were shut tight in a desperate attempt to keep his tears at bay as the staggering GINN's last moments replayed in his head. Why didn't he run? It was sad; how desperate and determined it was. And he just killed him. He should have been able to do something, anything!

At that moment, the alarms blared softly, taking Kira out of his thoughts. He snapped his head back up and scoured the vicinity before his eyes fall upon a fern green ship hovering about.

"A life pod?" Kira asks to no one in particular. With that said, Kira puts away his rifle and made his way to it.

 _ **In the Hangar Bay**_

The Strike now laid dormant with the Moebius. Kira, his friends, and Natarle and Murrue along with a few guards had all gathered around the life pod. Natarle turns to Kira and says, "you seem to have a knack for picking up things that others leave behind."

Kira remains silent at the remark as a tooled equipped Murdoch turns his attention to everyone.

"I'm opening it," he declares; The Guards all raise their rifles at the life pod as he punches in a few keys. After a few moments, the machine yields a small beep, and the life pod opens slowly with a hiss. Everyone looks on in great anticipation at who their mystery guest was, or if they were even alive. As the final gate lowered, a pink spherical robot flew out with it's ears similar to bird wings flapping, much to everyone's surprise and confusion. They made way for the small mechanical and looked shocked and surprised as it spoke.

"Haro, Lacus, Haro."

Soon enough, they all refocus their attention to the life pod as a female voice speaks.

"Thank you. I appreciate the assistance."

Lacus Clyne floated out of the life pod with a warm smile on her face. Kira was at a loss of what to say or think; This was far too bizarre, and that's saying something, considering what's been going on lately. Much like everyone, he just stood there, mouth agape. Cagalli was much the same, but she watched her with cautious eyes all the same. Natarle, Murrue, and the others all just let out sigh breaths, unsure of what to make of her. As the girl made her entrance, they were all curious about one thing; what now?


	8. Chapter 8

_**In the Hangar Bay of the Archangel**_

As Lacus floated clumsily around the room, she finally took the time to evaluate her surroundings. A quick glance later, it dawned on her that she _might_ be lost. Noticing the girl's trouble, Kira grabbed Lacus by the hand and eased her down. Lacus gave the boy a grateful smile.

"Thank you," she said.

"Uhm, No problem," Kira replied, slightly embarrassed. The girl simply smiled back at him before noticing the badge on his shoulder and speaking with a troubled look on her face.

"Huh? Oh, my. This isn't a ZAFT ship, is it?"

Everyone in the room looked up at this. Natarle let out a small sigh as she rested her head into her palm.

"Pardon..?" Murrue asks. Kira opens his mouth to speak but nothing but sounds come out. Cagalli groaned at the boy's reaction before regarding the girl.

' _She doesn't look like much trouble, at least.'_

 _ **Inside a Z.A.F.T Colony Military base**_

While on his free time, a freshly bathed Athrun emerged from the showers with a bathrobe. He was rubbing out the remaining wetness from his hair when the view phone on the wall started ringing. He walked over to it and pressed a button. The screen flickered on and the face of a female ZAFT officer appeared.

"Athrun Zala here," he declared.

She kept things short and told him that his mission will start thirty five hours sooner than initially planned, and to report to the ship one hour before departure. Needless to say, Athrun wasn't very thrilled about the sudden change of plans. He lets out a small sigh before heading over to the living room and turning on the TV.

On the TV screen was the news about the missing ship Silverwind. However, what was concerning to Athrun was the fact that boarded on that ship was none other than his fiance, Lacus Clyne. Hearing this, Athrun briskly made his way back over to the TV, leaning in as closes as he could. He would have leaned into the TV and straight into the corner room this was being broadcasted if reality would let him, but it wouldn't, so he simply settled for leaning in on his chair, giving the TV his undivided attention.

"I repeat," the news reporter said. "Observation ship Silverwind, which was on its way to Junius Seven for preparations to send a group there for its first anniversary memorial service has been missing since last night."

Athrun gasped. Lacus was missing, for the _past twenty four hours?_ He blankly muttered her name.

She'd be okay, right?

.  
 _ **On the Archangel**_

Lacus once again gave her thanks to the Captain and her subordinates for picking up the pod. She smiled gently, but her eyes showed quite a bit of fear and uneasiness. Her Haro chattered away on her lap as she spoke.

"My name is Lacus Clyne," she stated before picking up the robotic sphere. "And this is Haro, a friend of mine."

Natarle looked at her with concern while Murrue simply stared blankly at her before sighing. Mu rested his head against his hand. They sat in silence, oblivious to a certain group of eavesdroppers out the door.

"You hear anything?" Tolle asks quietly.

"Not with you talking so loud!" Kuzzey shouted.

"Shut up, Kuzzey!" Dalida whispered harshly. Kira looked on at this with a look of wonder on his face. Just then, the door swooshed open, much to the eavesdroppers' surprise. They backed away from the door and were met with the stern face of Natarle.

"You guys haven't finished loading yet!"

Seconds after that's said, the boys all run to their posts.

"You better be working!" she calls after them. Lacus leans forward a little bit to see the nice boy from earlier. She waved to him with a smile, much to Kira's surprise. He eyes her suspiciously before making his own leave.

Mu looks down to Lacus with a solemn expression as he leans against the metal beam of the bunk.

"Clyne, is it?" he starts. "You have the same name as the current Supreme Council Chairman, Siegel Clyne."

Murrue and Natarle gasp at this information. Time slowed to a still as Lacus considered her options on what to reply; she could lie...no she couldn't. She was a terrible liar, and it might make things worse for her. Looking at the expressions on her faces, it didn't look like she could dodge the question. She let out a mental sigh, and looked towards Mu. It looked like honesty really was the best policy.

She smiled at Mu and said, "Ah! It looks like you know him. Siegel Clyne is my father."

Mu looked at the girl with wide eyes. Soon enough, this became yet _another_ groaning facepalm. Murrue and Natarle share a similar reaction. Regaining her composure first, Murrue addresses the elephant in the room.

"What's somebody like you doing all the way out here?"

"I was here for a preliminary examination prior to a memorial visit to Junius Seven. Then our ship came across another ship belonging to the Earth Forces."

Everyone's expressions sober even more (somehow). Ignoring their solemn gazes, she continues.

"They said they wanted to board for an official inspection, so I accepted. However, our ship's purpose for visiting seemed to upset them. This led led to some...quarrels. They started out small, but soon, the situation ballooned into a major incident concerning the whole ship." Lacus started petting her Haro affectionately. It was a bit of a bad habit, she admitted silently to herself, but it kept her calm. "Before I knew it, people forced me into the pod so I could escape."

Compassion softened Murrue's features.

"That's terrible."

Mu chimed in at this point. "And what happened to your ship?"

Lacus' expression dropped and she lowered her head as she spoke. "I don't know...I just hope the Earth forces have calmed down since then. All we wanted was to honor the innocents who lost their lives, we haven't done anything wrong."

"No...no you haven't," Mu states, trying to cheer the girl up.

The mistral units hover into the open hangar of the Archangel with huge blocks of ice in tow. The Strike carefully pushes an ice chunk and leaves it floating in the hangar. Within seconds, a pair of workers clad in spacesuits attended to the abandoned chunk. Elsewhere, another pair help a Mistral unit with its ice. Kira looks ahead alertly as the Strike flies back into the debris field.

 _ **At the PLANT**_

Inside the space base hangar, the crewmen of the Vesalius begin the final preparations of their ship. At this point, the ship's comm officer began speaking on open channel throughout the hangar base...

' _The Vesalius will be taking off as scheduled. Crew members are to board promptly from Gate 12.'_

A briefcase equipped Athrun quickly saluted at the two superiors standing at the sides of the hallway as he floated towards the Commander and his father. Ahead of him are Rau and his father, talking. Athrun let out a small gasp before regaining his composure and saluting them as he passed them by.

"Athrun!" Patrick called. The bluenette gasps in surprise and halts. He turns around and grounds himself as Patrick begins to speak.

"I assume you've heard about Miss Lacus."

"Yes, but..." Athrun pauses before turning his attention to Rau. "You're not suggesting a search with the Vesalius. "

Rau smiles at the boy. "Come on. You're a cold man. Naturally, we're heading out to search for her."

"But we don't know that something has actually happened to the ship, and it _is_ a civilian one."

At this point, Patrick chimes in. "Although not publicized, a reconnaissance GINN from the Yun Law team hasn't returned from a search."

Hearing this, Athrun's eyes widen slightly.

"Junius seven has been pulled by Earth's gravity and is now within the debris belt. Not an ideal location," Rau smirks. "Besides. The Gamow lost the legged ship at Artemis."

"So you're saying…?!"

"All the PLANTs are aware that you and Miss Lacus are destined to be together. So the Le Creuset team, which you're a part of, can't exactly sit back and do nothing." Patrick Zala states.

Athrun turns to Rau.

"So…"

Rau remains silent but still has a smile plastered on his face.

"She's an idol. We're counting on you, Le Creuset, Athrun."

They salute as Patrick makes his leave. Without turning towards him. "So I'm going to save her and come back playing the part of the hero."

"Or come back with her corpse and cry like a madman."

Athrun whips his head around and faces him with a horrified expression.

"Whichever one it is, Committee Chairman Zala believes you're the one who must go."

With that said, Rau goes ahead, leaving behind a sober Athrun.

 _ **On the Archangel**_

The Archangel's engines roared to life, pushing the ship forward. Murrue let out a sigh as they made their way through the debris. In the cafeteria, Miriallia and Tolle look on mournfully at the viewing screens. Elsewhere on the ship sits Lacus. She sits perfectly still, simply staring at the walls. She had already read all the books this room had to offer, and frankly speaking, she was bored. When she really thought about it, this happened a lot when she wasn't busy with Idol duties. Sure, she loved the job, but it could only keep her busy for so long.

At this point, Haro rolled over to his troubled master.

"Haro, feeling fine? Haro."

Lacus snaps her head up slightly, broken out of her stupor. She looks down towards her pink companion and lowers a hand to him.

"Haro…"

"No problem. No problem."

He rolls over to her and hops into her lap. Lacus holds him in both of her hands, holding her slightly tighter than normal.

"There's a problem."

She looked soberly at Haro; What was going to happen to her? What about her father and Athrun?

She let out a sigh. Thinking about it wouldn't really get her anywhere, would it? As far as she's concerned, she's stuck here. There was only one thing she really could do.

"Haro, let's pray."

Kira walked through the empty halls of the ship alone and in silence, his mind flashing back to the events of before. At this point, he pauses as he thinks of something.

' _That GINN. Could it have been…?'_

Kira looks down to an outstretched and clenched fist.

' _It can't be!'_ he cried internally.

"No way!"

Eh?

Kira looks up to see Miriallia and Flay. Judging from their stances, they've gotten into a bit of an argument.

"Flay!" Miriallia cries pleadingly.

"When I say no way, I mean no way!"

"Why not?"

Kira walks in and goes to Kuzzey with an expression of wonder on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"It's about that girl's meal. Milly asked Flay to take it to her, but she refused. That's all they're quarreling about."

"I'm not going to! I'm too afraid to go near...one of them."

Kira furrowed his brow at the comment. This doesn't go unnoticed by Miriallia.

"Flay!"

At this point, Flay notices the presence of her coordinator "friend".

"O-of course, it's okay with you, Kira! I know that much. But that girl's with ZAFT, isn't she? Coordinators are smart, _and_ they have quicker reflexes! What happens if I'm attacked?"

Flay and Miriallia look to Kira now. The boy just looks to Flay and then Miriallia. At this point Kuzzy chimes in.

"I can't imagine that girl suddenly pouncing on you."

"You don't know for sure! I mean, did anyone here think Kira would be capable of piloting a mobile suit?"

Kira looked at the girl soberly.

"Who's this strong person you're all talking about?"

Everyone turned their heads in surprise to see the source of their quarrels.

"Haro. I'm fine. How are you?"

Lacus looked to the small group with a polite, but not so genuine smile. Kira looked at her worriedly. She looked calm enough, but there was some sort of nervous aura she was emitting. Then he blinked his eyes in surprise; He was literally _seeing_ an aura! This doesn't go unnoticed by Lacus. She looked at the boy rubbing feverishly at his eyes and wondered what was wrong.

If only he knew.

Elsewhere, Cagalli sits up from her bed. She'd been trying to sleep for the last half hour (or at least that's what it felt like). It looked like she would have to quiet things down herself.

 _ **On the Bridge**_

"Give me a break," Mu says with a smile of disbelief. "We just crossed supplies off our list of issues, only for a pink-haired princess to be tacked onto it?" He grabs onto a railing and turns himself around. "There's simply no end to the issues we face, is there?"

Murrue regards him for a moment before giving a reply.

"I guess we'll have to take her with us to Lunar headquarters."

"We don't have any more stops planned on the way, right?"

Ignoring the remark, Murrue continues in her statement. "If we took her to a military base, she'd….even though she's a civilian…"

"They'd greet her with open arms. She _is_ Clyne's daughter, after all. There are many ways she'd come in handy."

Tolle shifts cautious eyes to Mu at his last remark as Murrue replies.

'I hope she doesn't have to go through any of that, if possible. Not a young civilian girl like her."

"If you're bringing that up, then what about them?"

Murrue's head pops up at the voice and turns to see Natarle standing by the window of the bridge.

"These guys who have navigated the ship and fought with us in battle, are young civilians."

"Ensign Badriguel, that's…"

"Regardless of the circumstances, you dragged Kira Yamato and the others here into this war. But now if I'm hearing you correctly, you're saying you don't want to involve that girl."

Everyone turns their attention to Natarle as she continues.

"That girl is Clyne's daughter. That fact alone means she isn't an ordinary civilian."

 _ **In the Cafeteria**_

Lacus spoke as she entered the room with Haro bouncing after her. "If I caused some kind of stir, I apologize. Please don't laugh, but I'm quite hungry. Is this the dining room? I'd be very grateful if I could have a bite of something."

"But wait a minute!"

"Oh my god, just give her some damn food!"

Kira turned surprised eyes to a very cranky Cagalli.

"C-Cagalli?"

"I haven't been able to get any sleep since this started, and I'd like very much to start!"

Lacus tried to stifle down a giggle at Cagalli's antics. Cagalli whipped her head around, her undivided attention now on the slightly startled songstress.

"What, may I ask, do you find so funny?" she asked icily, not even trying to hide the irritation in her voice.

Lacus cleared her throat and calmed down before replying, "I'm sorry. It's just that seeing you act like that reminded me of some old friend Athrun always used to talk about."

Cagalli and Kira's expressions light up at the mention of the bluenette.

"Athrun?!" She repeated, albeit a tad more animatedly than she should have.

"Yes. Do you know him?"

At this point, Cagalli remembers that she isn't exactly alone here and shifts her eyes slightly to her friends, before returning her focus on Lacus and speaking.

"Why _wouldn't_ I know the son of Patrick Zala? It's rather common knowledge if you ask me."

Lacus peers into her eyes for a few moments. Cagalli backs away slightly from the girl's gaze, but it looks like Lacus is oblivious to her obvious discomfort.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

Lacus backs off a little after a while and gives Cagalli an understanding smile. Cagalli looks away awkwardly, scratching her cheek before walking off to one the food trays.

"Come on, let's get you something to eat."

"Why on Earth is someone from ZAFT allowed walking around alone without permission?" Flay asks in equal exasperation and horror.

"I had no intention of going out without permission, so I asked if I could leave. I asked three times. Besides, I don't belong to ZAFT. It's the name of the military, and it stands for Zodiac Alliance of Freedom..."

That's all Lacus got out before a glaring Flay spoke, although slightly wavering invoice.

"I-it makes no difference! You're still a coordinator!"

The smile dropped off of Lacus' face. "It is. I may be a coordinator, but I don't belong to the military. You don't belong to the military either, do you? Then you're just like me."

She extends her hand out and gives her a friendly smile.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself. I'm…"

"No! Stop it!" Flay cried in terror as she backed away from the girl, much to her confusion.

"You've gotta be outta your mind! Why should I shake hands with you?! We're nothing alike! I don't want any coordinator like you acting chummy with me!"

Everyone stood there in shock at Flay's remarks. There had been hints at it, but now it was just plain obvious; their friend was a racist.

"Stop flattering the girl, would you?"

Everyone turned to Cagalli, who faced Lacus.

"Don't worry about it. Not being like Flay is easily the greatest comment one could ask for. She just doesn't know that yet."

Flay glared at Cagalli and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out as she locked eyes with the girl's own intense glare. She picked up a tray and walked to the exit. Lacus regarded her for a while before finally following. Kira looked at the two leaving girls, then back to his friends. He gave a sad smile; it looked like he just didn't belong here...at least not now. With that in mind, he walked after the two. The trip to Lacus' room was mostly silent, save for the chatter of their pink robot friend.

Back in the Cafeteria, Kuzzey and Miriallia studied the fuming girl. Who was this person? Was she really the nice girl they knew? Was this really Flay Allster?

"Flay, are you a member of Blue Cosmos?" Kuzzey finally asked.

"No, I'm not!"

Miriallia let out a sigh at her reply. This was going nowhere.

"But what those people are saying isn't wrong, is it? People with altered genes, even if they're not sick or anything are a mistaken existence that opposes nature's providence. The truth is you all agree with me, don't you?"

Kuzzy and Miriallia's eyes gleamed with disgust.

 _ **In One of the Living Quarters**_

Cagalli laid the tray on the desk and turned to the songstress. "Cagalli," she said.

"Pardon?"

"I never gave you my name. It's Cagalli."

"Oh. Nice to meet you, Cagalli. I'm Lacus. Lacus Clyne."

Lacus then turned to Kira.

"Must I stay here again?" she asked, almost pleadingly, Kira noted.

"Yes, you should."

Haro swore as Lacus shifted her gaze to the ground. "That's no good. I'm all alone here."

With that said, she hopped back onto her seat. "I'd prefer to talk with everybody while enjoying my meal."

Cagalli and Kira glanced each other's way before Kira speaks.

"This ship belongs to the Earth Forces. So there aren't many people that, well, think highly of coordinators. Both sides more or less hate the other's guts. You get that, right?"

"Well, that's a shame."

"Yeah, I suppose it is…" Kira said as he looked over to the wall, once again in his own little planet. He was immediately dragged back to Earth (or space, if you want to get technical about it) as Lacus spoke once more.

"But you're very kind. Thank you very much."

Kira turned to her and blushed at the sight of Lacus' brilliant smile.

"I-I'm also a coordinator."

"I see. But you're kind because you're you, right?"

Kira's expression brightened with joy at the songstress' words.

"Would you mind telling me your name?"

"Oh, it's K-Kira. Kira Yamato."

"Kira… it's a nice name. Thank you, Kira."

At that point, Cagalli cleared her throat rather loudly and spoke.

"So, you were saying about this friend of Athrun?"

"Ah, yes!" Lacus said, clasping her hands together. "He said that in his childhood days, he was friends with this really tomboyish girl! It was only after he started junior high that he even found out she wasn't a guy!" she said, chuckling a bit.

Kira looked nervously over to Cagalli. The girl looked just about ready to blow. All the phase shift in the world couldn't help him now. He could only grab onto whatever sturdy object close to him and pray he survived the blast.

"There was this one time where she was dared to dive off the deep end, and she nearly drowned! He and his friend had to get the lifeguard, and they didn't leave her side until they got her home, though she was telling them she was fine the whole time."

Against his better judgment, Kira let loose a chuckle at the memory, which quickly earned a fierce scowl from Cagalli. The chuckle was killed in mere moments (rest in peace).

Lacus continued with a wistful expression.

"Yes, she had quite a few screw up stories. Probably more than I could count. But Athrun always said she was dazzling. Maybe not in the way she talked but in the way she acted. She never backed down from a challenge, and she always stood up for her friends. And her eyes. He'd always go on about her amber eyes! He would say they were sharp enough to cut through steel, but at the same time, they could be so gentle, and calm, like an ocean. To be honest, I'm more than a little jealous of her."

Cagalli couldn't fight back the blush that crept up her face. Had he really said all those things? Just when you think you wanted to murder a person, too! Lacus looked up to the flustered girl with solemn eyes.

"That girl….you're her, aren't you?"

Cagalli found herself slowly nodding in spite of herself.  
"I see... "

At this point, Kira spoke. "If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Athrun?"

Lacus smiled at the question. "Athrun Zala is my fiance."

 _ **On the Bridge**_

Things have been astonishingly dull on the bridge after the little quarrel with Murrue and Natarle had died down. Romero was taking a swig from his bottle when all of a sudden, an unknown call request popped up on his console. His eyes snapped as he dropped his drink and got to work.

"Captain!"

Murrue briskly turned her chair over to him with a satisfied smile of happiness on her face.

Miriallia walked glumly out of the cafeteria and looked to see Tolle running over to her. She looked both ways before dragging the boy away. In the room sat Kuzzy and Flay on opposite sides. The boy gave the irritated girl a worried glance. Elsewhere, Miriallia informed Tolle of Flay's outburst. Needless to say, he wasn't particularly happy about it.

On the bridge, Murrue hovered over Romero's post, reading his console.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"There's no mistake about it! This is a code pulse from the Earth Forces' 8th fleet."

Natarle floated up from her post to Romero's and gave the console a quick read herself as she spoke.

"Can you decode it?"

"I'm already on it."

The screen's lower soundbar fluctuated as Romero's fingers danced over the keys.

"I'm analyzing it…"

Murrue and Natarle looked over the console anxiously. Just then, a voice came through.

" _This is...8th fleet advanced… Montgomery, Arch...angel, please respond."_

Murrue smiled. "It's a force under Admiral Halberton's command!"

Natarle smiled likewise. Arnold swiveled his chair around and spoke with a smile as wide as a football field.

"Are they looking for us? What's their position?" With that said, he floats over to Romero's hops out from his corner and does likewise.

"Is that Koopman's unit?"

Soon enough, just about everyone's gathered around Romero. Arnold and Jackie highfive, while Dalida grabs both by the shoulders as Romero speaks.

"I believe they're still quite a distance away from us."

"But if we could join them…" Murrue starts.

"Yeah," Arnold interjects. "Finally, something that we can be relieved about! Things are looking up for us!"

The guys cheered and laughed in relief as smile came to Murrue's face.

Kira walked out of Lacus' room with a glum sigh; he had a lot of things to think about. Things have changed quite a bit, according to Lacus. It seemed like her and Cagalli would be talking for quite a while longer, but he'd heard all he needed to. Right now, he needed some time and space alone. Some time to reflect, some time to-

"Kira!"

It looked like that would have to wait. Kira turned around to see Sai running over to him.

"I heard from Milly," he said worriedly. Kira's gaze shifted to the ground as Sai brought a hand to his shoulder. "Don't let it bother you. I'll talk to Flay later."

Kira looked at Sai; So it was because of him, after all. Just then, a voice came from Lacus' room. It sounded like...singing?

Cagalli looked on in awe at Lacus. Kira smiled at her soothing voice.

"Is it that girl singing?"

Kira turns his attention back to a smiling Sai. "I have to admit, she has a beautiful voice. But at the same time, I can't stop myself from wondering if that voice is also a result of fiddling with her genes."

He started walking down the halls before turning back to him.

"Okay, let's go. We've gotta get something to eat, too."

Kira looked at him doe-eyed and gave the room a fleeting glance before following him.

 _ **In the Cafeteria**_

An ever so frustrated Flay twiddled with her bangs as Kuzzey finally stood up and spoke. "I know it's easy to forget, but Kira's also a coordinator. He can easily pilot such an incredible mobile suit, and fight astonishingly well with it. However, it's not like he wants to pilot a mobile suit. He does so to protect everyone from Heliopolis on this ship."

"I know that, but still…" Flay starts before being cut off by Kuzzey.

"But there are still those from ZAFT who also fight to protect those they care about in the PLANT. There are even other coordinators like Kira who also live in neutral nations or colonies to get away from the war. You may think Blue Cosmos's stance is right, but you should keep in mind that there may be some coordinators who may not have wanted be altered at birth."

With that said, Kuzzey makes his way to the exit, leaving the dining hall with an angry Flay something to think about.

 _ **On the Vesalius**_

As the Vesalius traveled to its point of destination, Commander Le Creuset entered the ship's bridge to meet with the Captain. Soon after he entered, the masked man witnessed the worries on everyone's faces as the alarms blared to life. Seeing this, Rau floats over to Ades' chair.

"What's the matter?"

"They're assumed to be naval vessels of the Earth forces."

Rau turns his attention to the viewing screen ahead, displaying footage of the space map.

"What are they doing out here?"

Moments later, he floats back to the hologram table.

"If the legged ship were planning to go from Artemis to the Lunar headquarters, what would they do?"

Rau turns to see Ades walking over. Standing adjacent to the masked man, he asks, "Then those naval vessels are out there to provide them with supplies, or greet them?"

"They haven't caught onto our position just yet, have they? Don't lose sight of them and follow them carefully."

"We're following them?" Ades asked in surprise. "But…"

"Of course, we'll also continue our search for Lacus Clyne. But all the same, we're not going to overlook this just for one girl," he replied with a smile, before turning back to the table.

"I'd hate to be laughed at by the historians of future generations."

Ades remains silent at the remark, but his typical solemn expressions softened just the slightest bit.

Elsewhere, in the hangar bay, Athrun looks solemnly at his mobile suit, mentally preparing himself for the tasks to come.

The Archangel revved up its thrusters as it made its way to the endpoint.

"Direction 45, mark 10, alpha. Route changed completed. Engines at 60 percent," Arnold informed. Warm smiles and relieved sighs seemed awfully contagious in the dining hall.

"There's nothing to worry about anymore! " one civilian said cheerfully.

"It's only a matter of time until we meet up with them," another said.

On a rather isolated side of the room, a giddy FLay clasped her hands together.

"Papa's…?"

"Yeah! He's here with the advance force greeting us," Sai answered.

"Really?"

"I'm sure he had no idea that you're on board, Flay, but we just forwarded our crew list to them."

Flay's eyes swelled with happiness.

"Papa's coming. I'm so glad."

Sai smiled gently at the girl as he replied.

"Great news, huh?"

 _ **In the Hangar Bay**_

Kira and Cagalli float over to the Strike, where they see Murdoch outside the Strike's opened cockpit.

"Sorry we're late," Kira says. Turning his head to the two, he replies as they hop onto the level pad.

"Oh, right. I made changes to the standing geometry offset values. I want you to check it over."

"Sure."

"Although you may never be using this thing again."

Kira shifted his gaze to the dormant Strike. This was it. The moment he'd been waiting for so long. It was only a matter of time until he left this ship and he and everyone could go back to leading a normal life. He should be smiling… so why wasn't he? Cagalli looked over to Kira, wondering the same thing.

 _ **In One of the Living Quarters**_

Haro rolled front and back (at least as much as he could, considering the fact that Lacus kept stopping him with her finger). Lacus smiled at the small robots' antics, before letting her expression solemn slightly.

"Here's a question. Where are we headed?"

"Oh?" was the only answer she received. She giggled as the robot circled around. Even then, at the back of her mind, she could feel it. The fear and frustration welling up, just about ready to blow. And then there were those two. They seemed nice enough, so it was no wonder that they got along, but she already felt some sort of...connection between them, even more than with the older blonde man (or that redhead girl from earlier). In her mind's eye, she could see 4 colorful auras flowing within and around this ship. But there was one in particular that she found herself more interested in. It had an amethyst seed enwrapped in a sphere of light, crackling with what looked like stars. In short, it was beautiful.

She leaned back in her seat with a neutral expression; she was lost on a warship belonging to the Earth forces, and she hadn't the slightest clue where they were headed. But at least she wasn't alone. With that in mind, a smile returned to Lacus' face.


	9. Phase 9: new blades crossed

Miriallia walked through the bright and lively halls of the Archangel in silence. She paused as she heard the animated voices of the civilians in the cafeteria.

"You think it'll be the moon first once we join up with them?"

"I have relatives living in Orb, so I ought to be okay," another says. She gives them a fleeting glance and continues her little stroll.

Not even two seconds after she entered the women's room, she halted. A doe-eyed Flay turns around to see a surprised Miriallia. It was a fair reaction, considering that there was skin cream all over face.

"What is it?"

"What do you mean, Flay? What are you doing?"

"It's a face pack. Can't you tell?" Flay deadpanned as she tore the face pack from her face and crumpled it into a ball.

"Of course I can tell. What I'm saying is… Ugh, nevermind!"

With that said, she walks over to the shelves. "I've got to admit, I'm surprised that you had something like that with you."

Flay rested her chin onto both of her hands and spoke with a smile. "Well, since Dad's coming with the advance force, I wanna look my best. My father wouldn't want me looking shabby. I have a reputation as the daughter of the vice minister to uphold, after all."

Miriallia gave the girl a quick glance before stripping herself naked.

"I haven't seen him in such a long time, so it's the least I could do."

"Whatever," Miriallia said as she entered the shower.

"I just wish I could do something about my hair," she said, tugging at it for emphasis. She let out a sigh and let it go. "Well, I guess it'll have to do. We're in a crisis, after all."

Miriallia gave the girl a look of disbelief. Friend or not, she had to admit that she could act so spoiled.

 _ **On the Bridge**_

The stern face of Captain Withers appeared on the viewing screen.

"Arrival time at the rendezvous point with our fleet will be as planned. Once you join us, the Archangel will come under the command of this ship, and we'll proceed to the main fleet together. You're almost here. I pray for your safe arrival."

The screen zooms out to reveal another man in a suit.

"I'm Vice Prime Minister George Allster of the Atlantic Federation. First, I'd like to thank you for your efforts in rescuing civilians. Oh, and one more thing! I was surprised and happy to see the name of my daughter, Flay, on the list of rescued civilians."

A wide mouthed Murrue held her drink just out of her lips, much like everyone else on the bridge at the revelation; Dear god, was there _anyone_ even remotely normal on this ship?

"I'd be more than grateful if I could get a glimpse of her."

"Vice Minister, sir, you'll see her as soon as they join us," Withers said.

Sai smiled. "That's Flay's father, all right."

 _ **In the Hangar Bay**_

Cagalli typed away feverishly at the Strike's keyboard. Kira watched over the girl worriedly; he had insisted on letting himself do it, but she wouldn't have any of it. Murdoch floated over to the dormant mobile suit and smiled at what he saw. Cagalli seemed to not notice his presence and kept typing. Kira turned to him and asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing, just wondering how it is."

"Just making a few adjustments to match the offset levels," Cagalli deadpanned, earning a blank expression from both Kira and Murdoch.

"Isn't that a little unnecessary?"

Murdoch let out a hearty chuckle and brought an arm to the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Just do what's needed. It's still your job until we join the others."

"I wasn't aware we were being paid," Cagalli shot back.

Murdoch gave another laugh before pulling out of the mobile suit slightly.

"Touche. But if you want, you're free to volunteer and remain in the military. The pay's good."

Kira looked on with wide eyes at the man's words before muttering his reply under his breath.

"No chance in hell."

Cagalli remained silent and continued her work.

 _ **Back on the Bridge**_

An oddly relaxed and happy atmosphere could be felt all throughout the bridge. Miriallia hovered down to the CIC and met up with Sai. the two greeted each other with a celebratory high five. As for everyone else, you ask? Dalida and Romero were recounting everything about the 8th Fleets reputation, Murrue and Natarle were discussing how shocked they were to know that the Vice Foreign Minister's daughter was on this ship, Gary and Ryan were chatting about what they were going to do after all of this was over.

"Me?" Ryan asked. "Well, I've got a kid at home. I've been meaning to visit her for a long while."

"Busy with work?"

"Yeah. It's been so long since I've been home…"Ryan paused as he looked over to see Kuzzey and Tolle were telling Arnold about all the good stuff that was in the Orb Union.

"It's shocking...just how fast kids are growing these days."

"Definitely," Gary replies, also looking towards the kids. "They sure are brave, fighting like this. I know I wouldn't have been able to do _half_ of what they've done at their age."

"Yeah...So, what were you saying about this special lady friend of yours?" Gary asked with a mischievous smirk, much to Gary's embarrassment. He chuckled a little and picked at some imaginary dust on his sleeves.

 _ **In One of the Resting Quarters**_

Lacus sang her song once again with a shaky voice as the others mostly slept. What else was there to do? Read the same books for the thousandth time? Wander around the ship and get herself in trouble?

She put a hand over a trembling fist as she stopped singing. It'd only be a little longer, she'd tell herself. She wouldn't have to be locked in this boring, small, suffocating room.

She wouldn't have to look to a small bookcase of three books for entertainment. Soon, Athrun would come and take her away from this ship, and things would go back to normal...why did that thought sound so disappointing to her?

Lacus found herself frowning at the thought. Call her childish, but she believed that this event was something meant to happen. While she didn't exactly know what, she could feel it; something had changed.

She found herself thinking back to Kira and Cagalli, and smiled.

 _ **In the Hangar Bay**_

Kira punched in a few more keys and stopped as the lower screen said, 'COMPLETED.'

With that done, he pushed the keyboard aside and turned on the cameras. Cagalli looked on with boredom as the boy tinkered with the giant death machine. Silence reigned all throughout the ship, much like a calm before a storm.

 _ **On the Vesalius**_

Athrun, Ades, and a pair of green coats gathered around the hologram table displaying a digital map of space routes. Floating in front of them is Rau.

"This is the estimated route of the Earth Forces' naval vessels," he explains. "The Laconi and Proto teams are behind schedule. If the vessels are delivering supplies to the legged ship, we mustn't overlook them."

"Are we gonna stage an attack?" Athrun asks. "But I thought we're ordered to…"

"We're soldiers, Athrun. That truth most definitely holds more priority than finding Miss Lacus right now."

Athrun remained silent at the comment.

 _ **On the Bridge of the Archangel**_

The radar on Romero's console yields the locations of one Nelson-class ship and two Drake-class ships.

"Silhouettes of three ships appearing on the radar!" he informs with a smile. "They're the escort ships Montgomery, Bernard, and Law!"

Everyone spreads gleeful chatter at the news. Murrue heaves a sigh; soon, all this madness would be behind them. It took quite a few trials and improvisations, but they managed to pull it off. She looked to the kids and smiled. They wouldn't have to sacrifice their conscience for their survival any longer.

Romero looked at the scene with before quickly turning his attention back to his console when it started buzzing and turning on and off. Noticing her comrade's distress, Murrue asks, "what's the matter?"

"A jammer! It's messing with the whole area."

Everyone sobers up at the revelation. Sai and Miriallia each let out gasps while Natarle grimaces.

 _ **On the Vesalius**_

The Nazca-class ship Vesalius finally reaches its prey and sends out two GINNs, each equipped with a 500mm recoilless rifle as they launch from the hangar bay. Inside the hangar bay, Athrun Zala finishes calibrating the Aegis. Well, he would have, had he not been interrupted by one of the GINN pilots (also equipped with a recoilless rifle) already prepped to launch.

"Hey, Athrun."

"Yes?" Athrun asked.

" Our commander really has a knack for sensing these things. it's almost like he's got some kind of telekinesis or something."

"You read too many comics, Nash," Athrun states as he finishes with his suits' adjustments.

"Ha, ha, ha! Anyhow, just shows us how that thing performs. It may be an Earth Forces machine, but it still looks cool as hell."

"Sure."

With that said, Nash launches from the ship. As Athrun begins to launch, he thinks back to the words of his commander, his father, and his childhood friend. He comes back to Earth as he hears from the CIC officer that he is ready to go.

"Athrun Zala, taking off!"

The stolen G-Weapon transforms its dormant gray to red as it's flung out of the ship and joins up with the three GINNs. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Rau Le Creuset gasped. He sensed a strange aura coming directly from the direction of the Archangel. This strange presence seemingly rivaled his own, but he couldn't tell who it was coming from on the ship.

' _What is this? It feels as if the vacuum of space is in a state flux of light. Could this be Mu? No, this feels... different. I can sense a few more waves of pressure besides Mu coming from that ship...and one of them feels familiar...but which one?_

 _Well, whoever it is, this light..._ _ **sickens me.**_ _It seems that I'm going to have to snuff out this light myself in order to keep this vacuum of space in complete darkness, as it belongs.'_

And with newfound resolution, Rau leaves his seat and heads over towards Captain Ades and speaks.

"Captain, I'm heading out there as well. Have the men prepare my CGUE for takeoff."

"Why? Athrun and the others can handle this one," Ades states.

"True, but this is the advanced fleet we're dealing with here, under the command Admiral Halberton, might I add. Not to mention they have well trained Moebius pilots. With them teaming up with that legged ship and mobile suit (as well as that mobile armor), Athrun and the others might have trouble with them."

"Very well, commander. Good luck to you."

"And to you, Captain."

With that said, Le Creuset heads for the door and smirks at the thought of what he'll soon find on the battlefield.

The Alert signals blared to life as the enemy neared their position. An air of tension loomed over the dimmed bridge as the captain and lieutenants ordered their mobile armors be sent. The place was abuzz with business. Everyone typed away hastily at their consoles. At this point, the captain speaks.

"Load all missiles and anti-beam depth charge tubes!"

Soon enough, Moebius units are seen blasting away from the ships. At the Montgomery, an operative informs the crew of their incoming heat sources; five mobile suits.

Sweat fell from Withers' face as the MS squad came closer and closer. Athrun looked on in wonder at why the masked commander had suddenly decided to join. He let out a sigh; just more questions for later.

"What's going on?" George demanded. "How couldn't you have noticed the enemy until now?"

Withers ignores the man's complaints and continues with his orders.

"Lower bow, pitch angle 30 degrees. Turn to port, yaw angle 20 degrees!"

Everyone lets out a small grunt as the ship quakes. "Send a message to the Archangel to turn around and withdraw!"

George stands and looks to the Captain with unbelieving eyes. "What? But then…"

"If you have any better suggestions on what to do, I'm all ears, Mr. Allster," Withers countered.

"There's no meaning to any of this if I don't meet up with them!"

"Then our actions would be even more pointless if we let them get sunk."

George let out a growl, but otherwise said nothing further in protest as the mobile suit team finally make contact with their foes.

Space is illuminated with the brilliant white and pink lights of battle.

This is quick to be detected by a certain legged ship.

"The heat distribution we're detecting ahead looks like that of a battle!" Dalida informs. "It appears to involve the advance force!"

Gasps and startled grunts waft throughout the room.

"A battle?" Sai repeated.

"Damn. Should have known this was too good to be true," Ryan says with a wry smirk.

"A message from Montgomery!" Romero starts, garnering everyone's attention. "Message reads, 'Cancelling rendezvous! The Archangel is to turn and leave!'"

Natarle calls out to Murrue, who turns to her and asks, "What's the enemy's fighting strength?"

Before Natarle could reply, Dalida speaks. "A Nazca- class at yellow 257, mark 402! Matching heat characteristics. Three GINNs and a CGUE...wait a moment, one of them's...it's the Aegis!"

Everyone turns to him in shock at the revelation. Soon enough, Murrue regains her composure.

"It must be that Nazca-class!"

Athrun dived under the gunfire of an approaching Moebius unit with ease.

Seeing this, the Moebius launches its missiles.

The red mobile suit swerves aside from them before cutting them down with a CIWS burst.

The weapons erupt in a pinkish ball of light as the Aegis flies ahead. Athrun narrowed his eyes at the small thing, which now had support, it seemed. He took them out with two beam shots and soldiered on through the ashes.

 _ **On the Archangel**_

Natarle looked up to Murrue and once again called after her. At this point, Tolle turns around and speaks.

"But on that ship…" he didn't finish, as his point had already gotten across. Finally, Murrue spoke.

"There's no guarantee that we'd get away, even if we turned around! All hands, level one battle stations! The Archangel will proceed to reinforce the advance force!"

In the halls, Civilians looked on in horror as the ship's announcer gave them the news they'd been fearing the most. They still weren't out of this just yet.

Kira ran out of his room and quickly made his way to the hangar. Lacus looked out through her opened door to see the boy running about. Kira stopped and turned around as he heard the chirping of Haro.

"Again?" He cried to no one in particular as he made his way to Lacus.

"Things are so lively around here...Oh my, is this a battle?"

"Yes. Now please, go inside."

With that said, Kira gently shoves her back into the room, much to the girl's surprise. He then turned his attention to the door.

"What the heck's wrong with the lock on this room?" Not one to be ignored for long, Haro started bouncing and chattering loudly. Sure enough, Kira turned his attention to the machine. All of Haro's efforts were quick to go to waste as Lacus grabbed his attention again.

"Kira...will you be fighting as well?" She asked, obvious worry in her voice.

He looked at the girl for a moment; she never ceased to surprise him. It was quite astounding how concerned she seemed to be for him, considering she barely knew him.

At last, he gave her a comforting smile and spoke.

"In any case, you're not to leave this room again. Make sure of that this time, okay?"

Lacus looks on at the retreating silhouette of the boy. She saw a faint blue aura surrounding the boy, but she could tell. Little by little, it was getting stronger. She smiled to herself,no longer worried; she knew he'd be fine.

Kira paused as he once again found himself being delayed by a voice. He turned to see the worried face of Flay. "What's this about going to battle stations? What about the advance force?"

"I have no idea! I don't know what's going on," he says and begins once again on his trip to the hangar, only to be stopped by a surprisingly strong hand on his shoulder, turning him to face an obviously frightened Flay.

"My dad's ship won't be destroyed, will it? Everything's gonna be fine, right?"

Kira gave the girl a soft smile and told her, "Everything's going to be okay, Flay. We'll be there, too."

The redhead looks on as the boy runs off, taking solace in his words, hanging to them like a lifeline.

Kira meets up with Cagalli, and the two run off together.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Kira replied with a smile. Cagalli furrowed her brows as she replied.

"Hey, I asked you first."

"Well, I ran into Lacus, and Flay was worried about her dad."

Cagalli's expression soured at the mention of the spoiled redhead.

"So, what took you so long?"

"I overslept."

He let out a laugh. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

A GINN raised its rifle at a fastly approaching Moebius unit that opens fire on the mobile suit before it could.

The GINN swerved under the stream of bullets as the mobile armor passes by.

At this point, another Moebius arrives, firing its own stream.

The GINN dives under the fire and finally takes it own shot in response. A missile rips through the fleeing mobile armor with ease, erupting in a ball of flames.

This is soon noticed by nearby comrades, and before anyone could prevent it, a squad of Moebius units had banded together, firing a concentrated volley at the GINN.

The GINN began to pull back and took one final shot (nailing a single Moebius unit) before reinforcements arrived in the form of the Aegis and another GINN.

Athrun stormed through the fire unscathed and made his way to the rear side of a Drake-class ship Benard. He took a few shots from his beam rifle and scurried along as the ship began to blow.

He then transformed into his mobile armor form and flies over to the Law.

This is quickly noted by a CIC officer, who relays the information to the crew as a blinding explosion erupted, rocking the ship and its inhabitants.

Withers growled and George looked up at the main screen in disbelief.

"We're being destroyed by our own machine?!" George asked incredulously as his expression of fear and confusion soon turned to one of frustration and anger. "This is ridiculous!"

Inside the CGUE, Rau smiles in almost manic glee. "I'm impressed Athrun. Behind all of that angst and shyness is a decent fighter."

With that said, he flew off to find the Archangel...or more precisely, that damned light.

 _ **In the Hangar Bay of the Archangel**_

The guidance crew made way as the slowly approaching Moebius Zero made its way to the catapult. Soon enough, the Zero shoots out of the launch bay. Elsewhere in the hangar floats Murdoch, floating patiently by the Strike. He turns to see Kira in a pilot suit along with Cagalli.

"You're late!"

Kira quickly speaks his apologies as he hops into the already opened cockpit of the mobile suit.

Once inside, he turns on the machine, and Miriallia came on the screen. She spoke as the boy strapped himself in.

"The enemy consists of a Nazca-class, three GINNs, a CGUE, and the Aegis. Be careful."

As the Strike is transported to the catapult, a solemn Sai chimes in.

"Kira! Flay's father is with the advance force. Please keep that in mind."

The boy activates the visor on his helmet and replies.

"Sure thing."

With that said, the Strike is finally lowered onto the catapult. Soon enough, the mobile suit is outfitted with the Aile Striker. The lights shift to go, and the Strike shoots out of the launch bay and activates its phase shift.

All hell was breaking loose on the battlefield. A damaged Drake-class valiantly set all its weapons ablaze.

A pair of Moebius units fire at the CGUE; Rau hissed in irritation as he sprung over the shots and stormed towards the units; he broke one's cockpit in with a punishing kick before quickly turning his attention to the remaining Moebius, who fired a rapid burst.

To Rau's surprise, the mobile armor hadn't aimed for him, but the sparking Moebius right next to him.

' _Using your deceased comrade to knock me back? You'll have to be a little better than that!'_

The CGUE had indeed been knocked back from the ensuing explosion, but was at a far enough distance to come out unscathed. The Moebius pilot sweared; that sacrifice was for nothing! He's quickly torn from his self loathing reverie as the CGUE drew its blade and charged to him.

He fired his missiles in response.

Rau smirked at his prey's futile attacks and dived under them with ease.

The Moebius pilot swallowed a breath he knew would be his last. It was hopeless, he realized, as the monster drew nearer. He dropped his thrusters and waited for the inevitable.

"Giving up already?" Rau said with a sarcastic grin. He brought his sword up menacingly, but just as he was about to finish the job, a thought ran through his mind. He regarded the mobile armor for a moment, or more specifically, its pilot.

He had learned his place quickly and had put up quite an effort. It'd be a waste to put someone so promising seven down, wouldn't it?

The pilot gasped as the CGUE sheathed its blade and flew off. He watched as the mobile suit flew towards the Archangel...Which he just now noticed wasn't turning away and running like it was supposed to. His chattering teeth managed to stable as he formed a scowl.

"S-stop right there!" he cried, firing up his thrusters.

Rau looked on in amusement at the mobile armor's antics.

"Oh well. Don't say I didn't give you a chance."

With that said, Rau raised his rifle at the Moebius, and-

Gasped as he felt a new presence on the battlefield. He's here! The CGUE darted away to seek out the new presence, the Moebius forgotten once more.

Inside the mobile armor, the pilot lets out a tired sigh, and evaluated his weapons before finally returning to his ship. Well, they can't say he didn't try.

Natarle ordered the fire of Valiant's one and two as the Archangel neared the battlefield.

George and Withers look on in shock as a pair of GINNs are blown apart by the blasts.

"The Archangel...it came to help us?" George asks in wonder.

Withers slammed his fist on the arm of his chair, seething with frustration.

"They shouldn't have."

the Earth Force massacre continues with the Aegis in MA cruise mode wreaking havoc on the battlefield, blasting the Law at its lower port with its " _scylla_ " beam cannon.

Athrun then changes back to MS mode to finish the Drake-class ship before spotting something. In the distance, he sees the Strike approaching. He let out a sigh, knowing very well who the pilot is. He reached for his beam rifle...and did a double take as a flurry of bullets cut off the Strike's path.

Athrun turns to see Rau's CGUE floating adjacent to him.

"Athrun! With the mobile suit out here, that mobile armor is sure to follow closely. Find it, and take it out!"

"But-"

"Listen. That mobile suit is simply too dangerous, being able to fight off all of you. You had your chance, Athrun. Now go. That's an order."

A look of frustration appears on Athrun's face seeing Rau's resolve about fighting his friend.

Kira gasps in confusion as the Aegis lowered its beam rifle and jetted off, before looking back to his remaining guest.

Rau smirked devilishly at the Strike as he brandished his sword; he was going to enjoy this, now that his suit had a little more "Oomph".

Mu glared at a GINN as he chased it away from the Drake-class and released his Gunbarrels.

The GINN swerved aside and fired its recoilless rifle at the mobile armor; the shot hit nothing but air. The pilot growled as he surged forward from the nearing Moebius and once again took aim, completely forgetting about one Gunbarrel floating menacingly behind it. The Gunbarrel opened fire on the unsuspecting GINN; the suit staggered back.

At this point, another GINN arrives after noticing his comrade's distress. It swoops down to the Mobile armor, ready to take a killing blow.

Mu glared at the mobile suit and called upon three Gunbarrels. Two intercepted the GINN's cannon blast, and one attacks. The Moebius is slightly knocked back from the ensuing explosion, but quickly rebalanced itself and finished off the mobile suit with a linear rifle volley concentrated on the cockpit, leaving behind a cloud of light pink.

Storming through the cloud was the Aegis, beam rifle blazing. Mu's eyes grew the size of saucers as he ducked under the shots.

He quickly sends the Gunbarrels and fires a linear rifle salvo at the now approaching Aegis; the mobile suit shifts to its MA Cruise mode.

Even with the added mobility, the Aegis had trouble keeping up. Athrun twisted and turned left and right, and jettisoned the thrusters in a desperate attempt to avoid the Moebius' attack.

Then one hit him...Then almost all of them did. The Aegis staggered back from the small explosions and regained its balance.

Just seeing how those shots were fired told Athrun what happened before was no fluke.

With that in mind, he goes under the Moebius in an attempt to catch it off guard and quickly switches back to mobile suit form. He fires a CIWS burst, but with a quick swerve, the Moebius managed to get past it.

Athrun swore and turned his attention to a Gunbarrel that caught up to him; he raised his shield just in the nick of time to block the shot and blasted it apart with his beam rifle before it could escape.

Mu's eyes gleamed as he speaks.

"Don't think I'm finished just yet!"

With that said, he called all the remaining Gunbarrels to surround the Aegis, much to its pilot's dismay.

On the other side of the battlefield, the Strike continues its desperate attempts in fighting off the CGUE.

Kira swerves aside from the CGUE's sweeping slash and raised his shield in time to block its following attack.

Re-facing the Strike, Rau smirks. "Not bad for an amateur."

Kira's eyes widen as the CGUE surges forward and knocks him back with a kick, before raising its heavy assault machine gun and firing.

The Strike dashed aside from the blast before firing its own rifle in response. Much to its pilot's surprise, however, the CGUE simply blocks the shot.

' _Damn! They must've had it upgraded!'_

Rau smirks at his foe's apparent surprise. It was hilarious really. The pilot's already tearing his hair out, and he hasn't even _begun_ to fight.

The CGUE takes initiative and rushes at the Strike.

Kira screamed and fired a volley in a futile attempt to keep it at bay. Rau barrel rolled under the shots, never stopping his advance. Finally closing the distance between them, he swatted the rifle aside with his blade.

Kira cried in shock as the ensuing explosion sent him staggering slightly. He looked on at that _thing_ charging at him and glared.

He brandished his beam saber and swung at the mobile suit; his blade caught air as the CGUE dashed around him and slashed at the Strike. Kira jetted away, but was too late. The blade cut through the Aile pack, and the following explosion sent Kira careening towards an unlucky ship.

After regaining his balance just before he could hit the ship, it was to his horror that he discovered how low he was on power. If this kept up, he wasn't going to make it.

He remembered everything he said before launching; the promises he made, the chances he'd never get, goals left unaccomplished. Death was glaring him in the eye, but he wasn't ready to meet him.

...No, he thought with seriousness almost surprising him. He couldn't die here. There were still things to do, things to say…! He wouldn't die just yet.

Right then, he felt the strangest thing; he saw what looked to be half of an amethyst seed shatter in his mind's eye. It was like a small guide in his mind, telling him what to do.

before he knew it, he was locking blades with the CGUE.

Rau grunted in shock; just what was this feeling?

The two parted blades and the CGUE pulled back slightly, taking out its rifle and firing.

Kira tilted away from the shots. That tilt grew to become a full spinning slash that tore into the CGUE's rifle. With the rifle out of the way, the Strike pulled the blade back for a killing thrust.

"Don't get cocky!" Rau cried as he swerved away from the attack and sent the mobile suit reeling with a punishing reverse roundhouse. Kira grunted, but quickly flipped himself back to balance. There was a voice whispering in his mind, drowning out everything else as he charged towards the CGUE, CIWS blazing.

Destroy.

On the Archangel, Flay quietly entered the bridge to hear the stern voice of Ensign Badgiruel. "Gottfried number 1, aim and fire!" She barked.

"Where's Lieutenant La Flaga?" Murrue asked.

"The Zero's engaging the Aegis!"

Flay looked on in helpless horror as Dalida informed the crew of an attack from the Vesalius aimed for the Law.

At that point, she floated over to the CIC to make her presence known to everyone in the bridge.

"Flay?" Sai asked.

"Dad...Where's my father's ship?" Flay asked, making no attempt to hide the obvious worry in her voice as she made her way over to the Captain. At this point, Sai floated over to the girl and held her by the arm. Murrue wiped the surprise off her face and replied.

"We're in the middle of a battle right now! Non-combatants aren't allowed in the bridge!"

Ignoring the Captain's words, Flay asked, "Which one's my dad's ship?"

"Flay!" Sai said scoldingly. The girl squirmed and squealed under the boy's grip.

"Let me go!"

At that moment, everyone's attention was grabbed at the sound of a thunderous explosion. They looked up to see footage of a Drake-class ship going down in flames.

"The Law's been sunk!" Romero reported. Flay floated about limply with an expression of shock. Taking notice of this, Sai gets a firm grip on the girl and speaks.

"Let's go! You mustn't be here! Come on!"

With that said, he escorts the troubled girl back to her quarters as Dalida informs the crew of a pair of GINNs heading for the Montgomery. Even worse, there were only two mobile armors left. Sai looked at the girl with worry, before steeling himself; you know what they say about tough love. He shook the girl to action, calling her name. Unfortunately, this didn't spur the action he was hoping for. Flay clung to the boy, hysteria in her voice.

"Where's that boy Kira?"

Sai looked on in horror; was there anything he could tell her? Anything he could say that would cheer her up, that wouldn't be a lie?

"What's he doing?" She demanded.

"He's fighting the best he can. But he's up against a CGUE, so things aren't going quite so smoothly."

"But he told me everything was going to be alright!"

Sai turned his head away from the girl, unable to meet her eyes as she continued.

"He said it'd be okay because we'd be there too!"

Sai remained silent and walked her to her quarters. Sai looked at her as they made their way through the halls. Against his better judgment, he said, "Everything will be fine, okay? Your dad's ship is unharmed."

Sai's words did little to calm the girl down, but at the very least, she wasn't protesting anymore. Suddenly, the ship started to quake. The two stopped until the trembling subsided. Once it stopped, Flay tried once more to get to the bridge. She was quickly stopped by Sai, and once again, the squirming and squealing commenced.

"Flay!"

"No! Let me go!"

At this point, the couple pause as they hear the voice of Lacus singing her song. The girl sang beautifully, but there was definitely a tinge of exhaustion in it, Sai noted silently as Flay made her way to the girl's room.

Lacus looked up in confusion as the door opened, meeting the frustrated eyes of Flay.

The Montgomery continues firing its beam cannons at the Vesalius as the GINNs continue shooting down Moebius units. A certain pilot from earlier came out with a freshly loaded unit and knocked a preoccupied GINN back with its missiles, only to grimace when it turned around and raised its blade at him; why did they always have to go up close?

He swerved aside from a sweeping slash and fired a salvo in desperate attempt to down the GINN. To his large relief, his attack succeeded. So lost in joy was he, that he forgot to back away from the explosion. He cried as his mobile armor was knocked back sending himself spiraling out of control into a pink light. Quickly, he unfastens himself and hopped out of the sparking mobile armor, landing on a piece of scrap.

Back on the bridge, Murrue demands preparations for firing the Lohengrin be made.

"A GINN's coming! Where's the Strike?"

At this point, the bottom screen on Murrue's console flickers up, and Mu appeared.

"This is hopeless! We've gotta scram if we don't wanna get destroyed!"

Looking up from the screen Murrue starts.  
"But…"

In the still raging battle, Kira throws a fist at the CGUE; the punch is caught, albeit with some difficulty, and the CGUE raised its vulcan system.

' _This may not finish him'_ , Rau thought, ' _but I'll be damned if it doesn't afflict some sort of damage at point blank range.'_

Kira's half dilated eyes widened as the shots pushed him back slightly and he quickly found his eyes turning back to normal. He glanced at the power; It wasn't finished just yet, but he'd have to do something, and fast.

With that in mind, he raised his beam saber and swung. Once again, his attack was caught firmly in the hands of the CGUE. Was there anything that would work against this guy?! He'd never know, but Rau found himself thinking the same thing.

Meanwhile, the Montgomery was hanging by a thread. Another GINN shows up, firing its recoilless rifle at the ships' cannons.

The bridge quaked as one of the operatives informed the crew that their main turret had been destroyed.

"Engine section's been damaged! Sealing bulkheads!" Another said.

Needless to say, Withers and George were not happy about this.

"What are they doing?" George asked. "Why can't they shoot down a single GINN?"

Turning to the man, Withers spoke. "Vice Minister, proceed to the lifepod!"

Athrun narrowed his eyes at the Mobile armor before him, beam tonfa raised. He'd taken out three of those damned Gunbarels, but that still left the speedy thing with three weapons. The Aegis' eyes gleamed as the bluenette charged, CIWS blazing. Mu dived under the stream and jetted away from the mobile suit's blade.

Athrun growled and swung again.

At this point, Mu fired his remaining Gunbarrel...which was right under the mobile suit. The Aegis staggered slightly; against lesser fighters, this would mean little. Against Mu, however…

A strangled scream escaped Athrun's throat as the Mobile armor pummeled him with a linear rifle volley.

The Gunbarrel jetted back near Mu as he prepared a final attack.

Athrun dashed back and transformed into MA mode, firing a scylla. The blast tore clean through the gunbarrel, but missed the Moebius, causing Mu to pull back.

Flay made her way through the bridge with a hopelessly lost Lacus in tow. Everyone turned to her in confusion, and wondered where Sai was. She propped herself on Kuzzey's console and spoke, the seriousness in her voice not betraying her expression.

"I'll kill this girl! If they fire at my Daddy's ship, I'll kill this girl!"

Tears streamed down her eyes as she continued. Lacus stared at the girl in shock, unsure what to make of this situation.

"Tell them that!"

A frustrated and slightly disgruntled Sai entered the room with one of his hands holding his privates (where he was kicked) and called after her.

"Tell them!"

Murrue just stared at the girl; A lot had happened in recent events. Unimaginable, absurd things, and even more absurd revelations had been told.

In hindsight, she guessed it was only a matter of time before this happened; a situation that truly left her speechless. All throughout the ship, radio silence.

The Vesalius aimed their cannons. Then, with a sound of thunder, large beams of light pierced the Montgomery. Everyone was frozen still, if only for a moment. For that slither of time, George screamed in terror. When that was over, because it was only just a moment, the Montgomery and George's cries were gone, and in their place was an enormous ball of flames. Murrue looked on in shock at the explosion before turning to Flay.

The girl shrieked as she floated back into Sai's arms. Sai looked on in worry, feeling more helpless than before. The girl once again struggled and flailed in his grip, making quite the scene.

Lacus gave the girl a look of equal concern and confusion, the thunderous explosions quaking around the bridge completely gone to her. Forgive her language, but what in the goddamned blazes was going on in here?

A flurry of thoughts welled up in the girl's mind as she watched Flay's tormented explosion.

At this point, the GINNs began to make their way to the Archangel. Natarle called after Murrue, and once again was met with silence. She sighed, took off her headset, and made her way to Kuzzey's console. The boy leaned back in surprise as the Ensign snatched his headset. Seeing this, Murrue finally reacts.

"Ensign Badrriguel?" she asks worriedly.

Ignoring the Captain's words, Natarle spoke.

"Attention, ZAFT forces! This is the Archangel of the Earth Alliance Forces!"

On the Vesalius, an operative informs the crew of the Archangel's broadcast.

Rau smiled as he backed away from another blade locking, and the broadcast continued.

"Currently on this ship is PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Clyne's daughter, Lacus Clyne!"

Athrun ceased his chase on the Moebius and turned his head to the ship.

"What?"

Mu took this chance to flee; as much as he hated to admit, there's no way he could continue fighting in this condition.

The main screen displayed Natarle and an obviously nervous Lacus.

"Miss Lacus?" Ades cried in disbelief.

"We came across a lifepod with her on board," Natarle explained. "And took her in for humanitarian reasons. However, should you choose to attack this ship, we shall consider this as abandonment of your responsibilities to protect Miss Clyne and take care of this situation as we see fit!"

Athrun stood there, glaring at the ship before him. How dare they? Must they take away _everything_ from them? From him?

"You _bastards!"_ he cried.

Kira froze as well, listening with a blank look on his face.

Mu hopped out of a slightly scorched Moebius in the hangar bay. Within seconds, the maintenance team was on it. This goes by unnoticed by the Lieutenant as he looks up with a depressed smile on his face.

"I didn't expect this one."

Cagalli looked on at the scene, before being shoved by Murdoch.

"If you can work on a mobile suit, you can help with a mobile armor."

Cagalli growled and went to work. She hated this...she paused. Dammit, there really was no other way to describe this other than a job, was there?

Rau simply smiled at the Strike.

"That's gotta feel awkward for you. Coming to help only to find yourselves in danger and resorting to this."

The radio crackled to life, and the slightly worried voice of Ades came through.

"Commander!"

"I know, I know," he said before pressing a button, relaying his voice to all his allies.

"All forces, cease attack!"

He turned to leave, but not before giving the Strike one last glance. It was a shame that he didn't get to finish him off, but there'd be more opportunities. Another day.

 _ **On the Archangel**_

Natarle put the headset down as the ZAFT forces took their reluctant leave, and looked up to the angry face of Murrue.

"We cannot have the Strike or the Archangel destroyed here!"

Murrue let her eyes cast down to the side as she replied. "I know that, Natarle."

Natarle regarded the woman a while longer before finally replying, "Someone! Take Miss Lacus to her room."

Today was, by all means, awful. Their hope was snuffed out by the cannon of a GINN, once again leaving them with an uncertain future. Flay was put to bed by a worried Sai, and Lacus was finally escorted to her room by Jackie. The troubled songstress walked down the halls in complete quiet. There were a lot of problems here; she knew that for sure now. But that wasn't the biggest question on her mind. She turned slowly over to Jackie and asked hesitantly…

"That...was what just happened my fault?"

Jackie regarded the girl with a look of surprise before finally answering her.

"No, it's not your not at fault...this damn war is at fault," he said. Silence returned to the halls as Jackie walked the songstress back to her quarters.


	10. Phase 10: Crossroads

Ades gave his reluctant forces another reminder that they had no choice but to retreat. Athrun turned and saw the damaged Strike in the distance.

He spoke to Kira, rage in his voice. "Using a rescued civilian as a hostage? How can someone as righteous as you fight alongside those cowards? God, how you've fallen!"

The boy looked on, speechless at his old friend's rage.

"Athrun…" he finally choked out.

Athrun lowered his head, resolve gleaming in his eyes. "I'll save her! Just you wait!"

With that said, the Aegis turns around and finally took his leave.

Kira regarded his retreating friend before finally lowering his head and took a few breaths; it was funny. All he's done so far is move some controls, yet here he was, panting. What a laugh…

 _ **On the Bridge of the Archangel**_

Natarle fixes her collar as Murrue speaks.

"Although we were able to avoid immediate danger, it doesn't change a single thing about our current situation."

Natarle looked to her and replied.

"We can regroup during this time. I believe that to be the most important thing at the moment."

"Yes, I know. "

With that said, silence is returned to the bridge as everyone gets back to work.

"So much for the honeymoon…" Gary grumbled under his breath.

 _ **In the Hangar**_

The hangar bay was abuzz with energy as the maintenance crew tended to a scratched up gray Strike.

"Hurry! We're not exactly done fighting," Mu said, hovering over Murdoch at the computer terminal.

"I know!" Murdoch said. "Man, is this ship cursed or something?"

"Yeah. It's a curse by the name of Le Creuset."

Cagalli brought one hand to her head and ruffled her hair a bit at the sight of the mobile suit.

What the hell happened out there? God, this boy was going to kill her one day. With that in mind, Cagalli made her way to the mobile suit, bringing a manual book in tow. Just then, Kira hopped down to meet Mu and Murdoch, much to Cagalli's surprise.

"Hey, wait-!"

Her words fell on deaf ears, for the boy was already there at the computer terminal.

"What the hell was that?!" He exclaimed. Mu shifted solemn eyes to the boy.

"There's not much to explain. You heard it 's what happened."

With that said, Mu floated off to the upper level of the hangar.

"Taking that girl hostage and threatening them? The Earth forces, do they usually run away from fights like this?" He asks, floating after him. Turning to him once again, Mu replies.

"The reason they had to resort to such actions in the first place is because we're weak, right?"

Kira narrowed his eyes at the man, but whatever protests that were going to come out died in his throat as the Lieutenant continued.

"Neither of us has the right to criticize the Captain or the Combat Commander."

The boy lowered his head, frustration and shame swirling in his eyes.

Cagalli looked at the scene with worry. What was on that guy's mind now? Well, there was only one way to find out. With that in mind, Cagalli slowly made her way out of the room, ditching the manual. At the computer terminal, Murdoch looked on at the retreating form of the girl and sighed.  
"Kids…"

 _ **On the Vesalius**_

The Archangel stayed its course, completely unaware of its closeby followers. On the bridge, standing by the holo-table was Ades. Rau sat in the command chair, resting his head on his fist as he listened to the Captain's worries. Athrun stood with his helmet in hand (as he hadn't changed back to his normal uniform), looking to both of the men in anticipation.

"Even if we continue following them, we wouldn't be able to do a thing with Miss Lacus on board," Ades said.

"And their next move is likely to join the Lunar fleet," Rau added.

"Do we have any choice that doesn't involve letting them take her to the fleet before our eyes?"

Rau straightened himself as he spoke. "What's the Gamow's position? How soon can it get here?"

Ades looked down to the table and replied, "It's position currently is six mark five zero nine epsilon, zero comma three. It'll take them at least seven hours to get here."

"They'll join the fleet well before then. This is a tough one."

Athrun grimaced; he had become a soldier to _prevent_ this kind of thing from happening. Once again, those blasted Earth Forces took something away from him, and once again, here he was, unable to do anything about it.

 _ **In the Infirmary of the Archangel**_

Sai slept, completely exhausted. You would be too, if you had to escort a screaming girl all the way to her room, in spite of all her kicks and hysterical pleas. For someone so composed, one had to hand it to Flay; she was remarkably feisty when she wanted to be. The scratch wounds in Sai's shoulders and forearms were proof of that. Speaking of her…

Flay groaned and rolled over, her back completely facing the bed now as she slowly opened her eyes. Then they shot open as the horrid memory of the Montgomery's sinking coursed through her like a freight train.

Sai awoke with a start to Flay's wretched screams. She was holding her head in her hands and was panting like a madman.

Soon enough, Sai was there, standing next to her. After calling her name a few times, the girl turned her head to him. Her eyes were wild and almost animalistic as she uttered the only word she could find in her suddenly small vocabulary, to describe not even a fifth of the pain she was in right now.

"Daddy..."

Sai leaned back in surprise at the girl; nothing could have prepared him for this. Just a few hours ago, they were all there in the bridge, happy and relieved, so full of hope.

 _How did it come to this...?_

"Daddy! Where's Daddy?"

Once again, he found himself unable to look the girl in the eyes as she clung to his uniform.

"Where's Dad's ship? Please, Sai...tell me he's alright. Tell me I just had a bad dream!"

A smile wrenched onto the girl's face, tears still rolling down her face as she spoke. "I know...this was all just a long nightmare!"

Sai stared at the girl, speechless.

"We never left! Heliopolis was never destroyed, you never became an Earth Forces soldier. I'll go to the Ralvy's again with Jessica and Misha, and they'll tease me about a silly love letter. That Yula girl will bully me, and you'll comfort me. Right, Sai? Right?" She asked, shaking the boy slightly.

Sai forced himself to look the girl's way and spoke.  
"Flay... that isn't the situation at all. Heliopolis is gone, we're stuck on this ship for who knows how long, and now I work here as an Earth Forces Cadet. Kira's piloting a mobile suit, we don't even know whether your friends are alive, and your father… is dead," he finished, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry."

"Stop it! Stopitstopitstopit! You jerk! You're supposed to comfort me!" She cried, pounding on his chest softly, now kneeling on the floor. Sai knelt down to her, giving her the only comfort he could; a hug. It was so ironic. That's all he could do? Here he was, the oldest of the group, and all he could do was leave things to Kira.

At that moment, the doors swooshed open, inviting Miriallia (who came to bring the three of them some drinks) to the room belonging to the emotional wreck that was Flay.

"Daddy!" She wailed.

Miriallia dropped the bottles and promptly rushed into the room.

Kira's walk through the halls became a full sprint as soon as he heard the girl's cries. Kira entered the room quietly to see Flay weeping heavily into Sai's chest. Miriallia gave the brunette a worried glance before turning her attention back to the sobbing girl.

"This isn't real! This _can't_ be real!"

"Flay.." Kira said, his voice barely above a whisper. A whisper that was apparently loud enough to be heard, however. Seconds after the name left his lips, Flay's head shot upwards towards the boy, glaring at him.

"You liar!"

Kira gasped, taken aback.

"You said it'd all be alright! You said so, because you'd be there!"

The boy lowered his gaze to the ground in shame.

"Why didn't you protect him like you said you would?"

He remained silent. Then, everyone turned to the girl as she did something they didn't quite expect; she laughed. Of course, this was not a happy laugh. If only it were.

"I guess the joke's on me, isn't it? I was an idiot to believe in you...you're still one of them after all, right?"

"Flay, stop it! Kira did his best!" Miriallia cried.

"'His best' my ass! You're just holding back, aren't you?"

Kira stood there, eyes wide as saucers.

"Daddy...bring daddy back to me," She finally said, the shout in her voice all but gone. Sai held the girl closer to him, softly muttering her name.

Cagalli entered the room; needless to say, she got quite the sight. She always thought she'd be happier to see that spoiled pig crying like a baby...but of course, that would never be because her father died...apparently.

"What's going on?" She asked finally, as Kira made his leave.

Miriallia called after the boy, but he was already out of earshot.

"Miriallia," Cagalli started, bringing a hand to her shoulder to get her attention.

"Well, she started blaming Kira for not saving her dad. Saying he wasn't giving his all against ZAFT, due to him being...well, you know."

Cagalli turned to the weeping girl, and finally spoke.

"Oh."

It seemed that angering Flay was a gene in the family. Seconds after the word left the blonde's lips, the girl turned to her with more unadulterated rage swelling in her eyes.

"You…! You and your coward cousin! I almost feel sorry for you, being related to that wimp! Maybe it would've been better if you were the pilot of that mobile suit!" She brayed, walking over to the girl and sticking an accusing finger to her.

Cagalli shut her twitching eyes and remained silent. She may be a jerk, and she truly didn't think the girl was saying anything she hadn't already believed, but she was still grieving.

"A coward Coordinator shouldn't be doing a Natural's job!"

Alright, that does it.

Cagalli raised her clenched fist and swung at a wide eyed Flay.

The redhead let out a blood curdling shriek and brought her arms up, closing her eyes and cowering under the incoming punch. Instead, she found herself slowly opening her eyes to see Cagalli had put her fist down. Sai let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, and Miriallia simply blinked.

Smirking, Cagalli spoke.

"For someone so ready to label someone a coward, you're quite the chicken."

Flay glared at the girl, but whatever replies she was about to make were cut off by the blonde as she continued.

"Look at yourself! You can't even take a fist, but you have the gall to insult someone facing bullets!"

Flay gasped as the blonde girl grabbed her by the collar, her smirk long since replaced by a scowl that'd make Dinosaurs cry.

"Listen up, you spoiled slob! I'm tired of your crap! You tell anyone you can to do everything for you, and what, just hope for the best? You're missing the point! You haven't done a thing. For all the stuff you bring to the table, you might as well join your father! So I don't want to hear any shit like that, like you're some kind of big shot! We're all working as hard as we can to survive, and the last thing we need is _you_ causing problems for everyone! Got it?"

Miriallia walked over to the blonde, putting a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Cagalli…"she said slowly.

The girl growled in her direction before finally shoving Flay to the ground, grabbing one of the fallen bottles and storming off.

Flay glared in the girl's direction; the rotten apple didn't fall too far from the tree. She turned in the direction of her savior and smiled.

"Thanks, Miri. That brute ought to be locked in a cage with the rest of the animals, right?"

Her smile was quickly turned into a confused frown when she found her savior's expression to be one you'd expect from a mother before scolding her child.

"Flay, while I definitely think Cagalli went too far, I agree with a lot of what she said."

With that said, she picks up one drink and makes her leave. Flay glared at the girl, before turning to Sai.

"What?" He asked hesitantly; he had no idea what exactly the girl was thinking, but he was sure it couldn't be anything good.

 _ **In the Hallways**_

Kira ran. He didn't know or care where, he just needed to leave. To be away from everyone and left to his thoughts. He walked over to a gravity transport and activated it. As he was elevated, he thought back to his friends' words, then Mu's, before finally landing on Flay.

It made sense now; why he was okay to fight alongside with all of this insanity. It was because he was a coward.

Kuzzey looked on in confusion as he saw the downtrodden boy zoom down the metal halls.

Kira finally found himself leaning on the windows of the gallery.

Alone at last, he was finally free to let out the strangled cries of frustration that had been building up since Artemis.

"What's wrong?" A voice asked softly. Kira turned in its direction and was met with a sight for sore eyes; Lacus smiling gently at him, along with Haro. One of the only people who seemed to _not_ have any grudge against him at the moment.

He tried to speak as he stared at the girl, but only inaudible sounds came out. Lacus grounded herself and looked to him patiently.

At this point, she noticed the remaining tears on his face. She brought a hand to his face; the boy quickly shielded his face from her hand and wiped the tears from his face.

"Why are you here?" he asked finally.

Lacus smiled at the boy's clumsy attempt to change the subject and pushed herself off the window; she guessed she would play along… At least for now.

"I was just taking a stroll when I heard a loud and pained voice from this direction."

Kira blushed at the realization. he hadn't been _that_ loud, had he?

Pushing the subject aside, Kira replied.

"You shouldn't be walking around like this. You'll get accused of spying,"

"I see." Lacus hopped over to the boy, grabbing him by the hand and looking him in the eye.

"Do you always change the subject when people ask you about your problems, or is it just me?"

The boy blinked in surprise, completely speechless; Was he really that transparent?

"Anyways, it looks like the fighting's stopped now," Lacus said, her tone getting more serious.

Kira shifted his eyes to the ground.

"Yeah, thanks to you."

For a split second, Lacus looked taken aback, but quickly regained her composure.

"If that's so, why do you look so sad? Shouldn't you be happy that it's over?"

Kira sighed; she really wasn't going to let this go, was she?

"Well, if I'm being honest, I really don't want to fight. And I'm also a coordinator. There's also the fact Athrun was a very close friend of mine as well."

Lacus blinked.

"Athrun?" she repeated.

"Yes. I never would've imagined that he'd become a mobile suit pilot."

"Well, Isn't that all the more reason to be glad that it's over, at least for now?"

Kira turned to the girl before him in wonder; how did she manage to make all his problems seem so small?

"Athrun tends to be quiet, but he's overall a very kind person. You both are. He gave me this Haro when I told him how much I liked them. This isn't even the only one he gave me. At home, I have at least a few dozen, doing who knows what at the garden. To be truthful, it's kind of worrying…"

Kira smiled at the thought of Athrun giving Lacus pink chan in what might as well be called ' _Haro garden'._

"He hasn't changed a bit, I see."

Well, besides the whole, ' _piloting a giant death machine'_ thing, they both thought silently.

"He made my birdy as well," he added.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, but…" Kira paused, his face once again crestfallen. Lacus looked down at Haro longingly.

"It'd be nice if you two didn't have to fight. I'm sorry, I'm not being much help, am I?"

Kira shook his head and smiled at the girl.

"No, it's fine. I feel a lot better getting that off my chest. Thanks for listening to me."

"It's no problem. It's the least I could do, after causing such a ruckus…"

In that moment, Kira saw something in her eyes as she clenched Haro tighter to herself. An emotion he knew all too well; guilt.

"It's not your fault, you know."

Lacus looked up to the boy, a look of wonder on her face.

Kira smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head and spoke. "Sorry. It just looked like you were sad, and that came out. Sorry."

The girl began to chuckle at the boy's antics. Kira blinked and looked at the girl before finally joining her in the laughter. There they were, laughing like madmen about nothing, and everything. By the time they'd calmed down, they were on the floor. After that came a moment of content silence. Breaking this silence, the songstress spoke.

"Thank you, Kira. I really needed that."

The boy smiled back at her. "Hey, it's the least I could do, right?"

Lacus' smile simply grew brighter.

Kuzzey walked away from the corner, eyes wide at what he had just heard. Kira? Friends with Athrun Zala, the son of Patrick Zala? He thought back to Cagalli's initial reaction when he'd heard his name. It was so obvious, looking back on it. He let out a sigh and trudged to the cafeteria. There really wasn't anyone normal on this ship, was there?

 _ **Elsewhere in Another Hallway**_

They stood at the windows of the empty halls. Not a word had been spoken by either of them. Sai looked worriedly at the girl next to him; she was still fuming. The boy let out a small sigh and braced himself for whatever would come.

"...Am I really...spoiled?"she finally asked.

Sai gave Flay a double take, completely surprised by the uncertainty in her voice.

"Well?" She said more roughly.

The boy shifted his gaze to the stars as he spoke.

"I'd be lying if I said you weren't a little bit...pampered. I'd also say Cagalli's point about your treatment of Kira is quite spot on."

The girl looked at the ground, her expression crestfallen. "I see…"

A storm of emotions was going through the redhead. one of which is hatred for a certain blonde. Who did she think she was? She hated how whenever she was around, she'd glare at her, judging her every move. Those eyes always held the same feeling of disgust and utter repulsion, as if she wasn't good enough.

But even more than that, she hated how much she now found herself agreeing with her. For Miriallia, one of her best friends, and even Sai to say that they agree...It was a never ending pit of anger and misery, pulling her lower, lower, lower...

"But there's so much more to you!"

Flay turned to Sai and saw the integrity in his eyes as he continued.

"Do you really think I'd care so much for some spoiled princess? Sure, you're not without your flaws, but that's besides the point. And the point that I'm trying to say is that I believe in you! I see it in you; an amazing person! Someone who cares for her friends and is willing to do what she can to help. Like that time you helped that little girl get her doll back from those kids, or when you went and fought that lady in the mall just so you could get that bag Miri wanted!" The boy paused, and took something from his pocket. "Look."

The girl turned to see a tree seed lying in his extended hand.

"It looks so small and insignificant, but given some care, it'll grow and prove its worth to everyone. Just like I know you will, Flay."

The girl simply stood there, speechless. She opened her mouth to speak, to find the words to tell him just how much that meant to him, but could only come up with one thing to relay her gratitude. She smiled and moved upwards to the boy. Sai's eyes grew to the size of saucers as Flay's lips met his, but soon closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss. It was a bit clumsy, and might have taken too long, but there was a strong warmth, a tenderness in it. After what felt like an eternity, they parted lips.

"Thank you, Sai."

The boy gave her a warm smile. "It's no problem," he breathed out. At that point, the girl looked awkwardly in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Wanna get something? It's on me."

Sai once again gave the girl a double take; she was just full of surprises today, wasn't she?

Flay gave him a mock pout in response.

"Is me treating you to something really that unusual?"

"Oh, um...no. It's just that-"

The girl laughed and raised a calming hand to the boy's shoulder.

"Relax. I'm just joking. Come on, let's go. Well, if you want to, anyways."

Sai smiled at her, and took her hand (to the girl's slight embarrassment) as he gave her his reply.

"It'd be a pleasure."

 _ **On the Vesalius in the Commander's Quarters**_

A freshly bathed Rau was walking over to the counter when he heard the ringing of the holo comms.

He pressed a button and spoke.

"What is it?"

"A message from Chairman Zala of the National Defense Committee. Shall I forward it?"

"No. I'll listen to it on the bridge."

With that said, he let go of the button, reverting the screen back to its original state, and grabbed a bottle.

"My, my, all this fuss over one girl's life."

He took a swig from the bottle before laying it down and observing his hand; it was soft and youthful from the showers, but lord knows that'll only last him so long. It'd grow old...way too fast.

He smiled at himself when he realized he had made a fist thinking about those things again. He unclenched his hand and made his way to the exit of the room, his bottle, pills and even mask lying forgotten in the bathroom.

 _ **In the Cafeteria of the Archangel**_

The cafe lounge was empty, save for Miriallia and Tolle. There was a solemn atmosphere looming over their table as they discussed on what went down just a short while ago in the infirmary.

"I really don't blame Cagalli for doing what she did, because in all honesty, she had it coming and I would've done the same thing."

"Tolle…"

"Okay, okay, maybe that's a bit much. Still, what she said to Kira wasn't right...Man, and to think that he had a crush on her..." Tolle took another bite of his wheat roll.

When the two finished eating, Tolle took their trays to the counter and sat back down across from his girlfriend. Before he could continue where they left off, they turned at the sound of the door being opened. To their almost immediate concern, they saw a troubled Kuzzey walking in the Cafeteria, getting a drink. Being the friend he was, Tolle spoke.

"Hey, Kuzzey. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just...you know that Aegis mobile suit that ZAFT stole? Well, I heard that the pilot of that machine is an old friend of Kira's. I think his name Athrun Zala."

Needless to say, Tolle and Miriallia were quite shocked to hear of this shocking revelation.

"Isn't Athrun Zala the son of Patrick Zala?" Tolle questioned. No one answered the obvious question and just gave Tolle a ' _no shit Sherlock'_ look. The boy chuckled awkwardly and dropped the question.

"How do you know this, Kuzzey?" Miriallia asked.

"Well, I overheard him talking with that Lacus girl a moment ago. He says that this Athrun Zala guy was a close friend of his."

"This situation just goes from bad to worse. Fighting against someone you were friends with must suck… wait a second. Isn't Lacus supposed to be in her room?"

Kuzzey blinked.

"I guess she is."

"Shouldn't we do something about this, then?"

"What _can_ we do? The girl might as well be an escape artist," Miriallia replied.

They had a small laugh at that, forgetting for just a moment about the nearly overwhelming knowledge they now had, and completely unaware of a certain eavesdropper. Sai stood deathly still behind the door of the room as he listened in on to the conversation. It was startling to say the least. He felt his heart go out to Kira; the boy couldn't seem to catch a break. He then thought back to Flay's outburst a short while back, or more specifically, the young coordinator's reaction to it.

It made an astonishing amount of sense that he reacted the way he did. Not that his reaction was unwarranted before, but _wow,_ that must have hurt.

He soon snapped back to reality when he hears the sounds of footsteps. He turns to see Flay, having returned safely from her trek to the god forsaken dump that was the restroom. To be fair, your restroom would likely look terrible if you had at least a hundred people using it too.

Flay gave the boy a curious stare, noticing how shoken he seemed.

"What's wrong?"

Sai took a moment to recompose himself and spoke.

"It's nothing. Come on, let's go."

Flay looked worriedly at him, obviously unconvinced, but dropped the subject.

Kira sat hunched over in his bed. Birdy flew over to his shoulder and turned to his troubled master. He chirped his concerns to the boy, pulling him out of his mind, if only for a minute. Kira brought a hand over to the mechanic bird, who eagerly hopped onto it. While the bird sat quietly, Kira returned to his thoughts of a certain songstress and her situation. Finally, he came to his conclusion.

"This just isn't right!"

With that said, the boy got up and made his way over to the hall.

Lacus awoke to the sight of Kira pleading with Haro to be quiet. Part of her wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but more of her was curious of the boy's reason for being here. She sat up, wiping the exhaustion from her eyes while Haro sweared.

"Kira, what are you doing here?"

The boy simply brought a hand to his lips.

"Please be quiet and come with me."

The girl blinked in response; what was he up to? Well, there looked like there was only one way of finding out, she thought as she put on her dress and followed him through the desolated halls. The boy's head darted left and right as they ran as quietly as they could. Before she could properly react, Kira stopped and pushed her against the halls before standing in front of her as she heard a group of footsteps.

Sai and Miriallia turned to see the boy standing there.

"Kira?"

In the cafeteria, Flay stood frozen with her tray the moment she heard the name, going deep into her thoughts again, drowning out the sounds of Haro's incessant chatter. Just then, the doors slid open, letting in a certain blonde.

Kira gasped as Lacus leaned into eye shot and scooped up her squabbling toy.

Sai just held a finger to him, mouth agape. Kira's expression hardened as he turned his eyes to the ground. Sai and Miriallia walked over to the boy.

"What are you doing, Kira?" Sai asked.

The boy remained silent, and the girl simply looked in worry at the boy.

"What do you plan to do with her?" Miriallia asked, before gasping and putting two and two together. "Surely, you're not-?!"

"Please pretend you didn't see anything. I don't wanna involve you guys in this...but I can't let things continue like this!"

Miriallia blinked and looked back and forth between Kira and Sai.

Sai sighed and gave his reply.

"Well, keeping a girl hostage _is_ the thing you expect bad guys to do."

Kira gasped as Sai smiled at the boy.

"I'll help."

"Sai…" Kira couldn't stop the smile growing on his face. It was good to know that he could count on his friends for this.

Lacus floated by, petting Haro as Kira fumbled around in a locker. Finally, he pulled out a space suit.

"Wear this over what you're wearing right now," he said.

The girl looked over her attire and chuckled a bit as she started removing her clothing. Kira let out a yelp and quickly hid his eyes from the girl with the space suit as the girl got to her underwear.

Sai and Miriallia waited by the walls, floating against them.

"You know," Miriallia started. "Maybe it would've been better if I went in and got her dressed while Kira waited."

"No point wondering about it now," Sai replied as the door opened, letting in a space fitted Kira and Lacus.

Sai practically leaped back into the wall when he saw that Lacus had apparently gained a few pounds. Miriallia yelped at the sudden reaction.

Kira just gave him a questioning stare.

"Just wondering why she suddenly became pregnant...Kira, you really go all out, don't you?"

Gone was Kira, and in his place was a tomato.

"That's not funny!" he hissed at the boy. He chuckled a bit, while Miriallia let out a sigh. Lacus looked down at her bulging 'Stomach'.

 _ **In the Cafeteria**_

Cagalli waved a hand over Flay's blank face. There was no response from the girl.

Cagalli sighed; she just wanted some food. Now she had to take care of this?

She reeled her hand back before bringing down a booming slap across the redhead's face.

Flay quickly put a hand over the growing red spot on her face and glared at Cagalli.

"Ow! Why'd you slap me?!"

"You were dozing off," Cagalli deadpanned, resisting the urge to smile.

"You didn't have to hit so hard…" the girl whimpered.

"Go whine somewhere else. I don't have the time for it."

With that said, Cagalli turned around and made her way to the trays. Flay glared at the girl, the memories of her words once again rising.

"Aren't you just as afraid?"

"Hm?"

"You must be! You could've easily convinced your cousin to let you pilot it, right? So why-"

"You don't think I've tried? Guy's a psychic. Put a lock on it before I got a chance."

Flay's mind was reeling; how was it like this? Was she really the only person that was afraid here? Of them? Of dying out here?

"How? How can you even sleep with everything that's going on? Especially when you shrug off others helping you? How come you're never afraid of those coordinators? Don't you know what Blue cosmos says? What...the Vice Foreign Minister of the Atlantic Federation said about them?"

Cagalli sighed as she looked at Flay. Normally, she would have been angry, but she could feel the girl's confusion. It was a strange phenomenon; she felt calm around the girl. She guessed it was out of slight guilt for her outburst earlier. Not that she'd ever admit to that, though.

"Flay...Blue cosmos is a group of terrorists that bombed a colony, killing thousands. Of course they say that. They say it so they can delude themselves into thinking they're not in the wrong when they shoot a child dead. When they think they're doing this for the preservation of our blue and pure world, it's nothing but an excuse. You understand that much, do you? Isn't that what you believe, belonging to a Neutral nation?"

"But-"

"But what? Where was I wrong when I said that those people didn't deserve to die? Fuck the terms, how many human beings did they slaughter in the name of that shit slogan?"

The girl shifted her gaze to the ground, unable to give an answer.

"As for why I go on...It's because I- no, _**we**_ have to. We've been caught in unfortunate circumstances we have no control over. We can't control many things here. But we still have the decision to help each other out and fight so we can survive. To stay on the sidelines twiddling your thumbs, or to give your all and have a chance of survival. I have no intention of dying in this fiasco, much like everyone else. Worrying has never helped me before. It sure as hell won't help now. I can't afford to die here and leave that crybaby alone. Besides, I need to get answers from a certain someone…" she raised her gaze from her clenched fist to the redhead; she seemed to actually be listening.

"Can I go eat now?" she asked finally.

Flay nodded numbly.

Soon enough, the group was at the hangar bay. While they hid behind a corner door, Miriallia took a quick scan of the area before giving Kira the thumbs up. The boy hopped over to his dormant mobile suit with Lacus and Sai following.

Once they were seated in the cockpit, Kira turned his attention to the pair floating next to him.

"Thanks, guys."

"Don't mention it," Sai replied.

"Let's meet again sometime," Lacus suggested.

"I'm not so sure that can happen," Sai replied with a sad smile. Kira punched in a few buttons when he heard Sai call him.

"You'll be returning...right?"

The brunette gasped; and just when you thought you knew a friend. He opened his mouth to speak, when all of sudden…

Everyone (save for Lacus, who simply looked at everyone with worry) froze as they heard the doors swoosh open. Murdoch floated over to a bar, seeing them at the level pad. Obviously, he wasn't exactly happy about this surprise.

"Hey! What the heck do you kids think you're doing?"

Kira looked on at Sai; when he looked into his eyes, he couldn't find much distrust towards him, but more concern.

"You'll come back to us, right?"

He smiled understandingly at him, before giving his reply.

"For sure. I promise."

With that said, the cockpit closed and Sai and Miriallia made their retreat. The maintenance crew came swarming in now, as Murdoch floated over to the Strike. Cagalli looked on in confusion at the Strike, before looking to Sai and Miriallia.

They seemed to be saying something, she noted, as they landed on the top platform.

"I believe you!" Sai called out to the Strike as it made its way to the loading bay.

The alarms on the bridge blared to life. Murrue swiveled around to the Romero.

"What is it?" she asked as the launch catapult opened.

"Strike! What are you doing?! Kira Yamato!" Natarle cired. A small screen popped up, but the person she was hoping for wasn't on the other side.

"The kid's taking the girl out!" Mu said.

"Wh-What?"

Everyone whipped their head around in shock and gasped.

"Think they're a thing?" Ryan asked offhandedly.

"Two coordinator youths alone in a ship full of naturals… One could almost call it fate. Wait, isn't she engaged?"

"...I think so, now that you mentioned it. That bastard's hitting on a taken woman? God, that's sick!"

"Don't you think you're assuming too much?" Tolle chimed in.

"Maybe, but there's not much else to go with that's solid."

"Kira wouldn't do that. He's not the type. He's way too shy to make a move."

"Sounds like you know him pretty well," Gary noted.

"I'd hope so. It'd be troubling to not know how my friends act."

As the Strike is being outfitted, Lacus spoke.

"Your friends don't seem to trust you very much."

"They're just worried. I doubt my reaction would be very different if I were in their shoes."

"You wouldn't, hm?"

"Yes. Now please, hold on tight. We're going!"

The songstress complies, and the Strike is flung out of the ship. Once in space, it activates its power, and once again clad in color.

The Strike's departure from the ship is quick to be noted by the Vesalius.

"We've confirmed a mobile suit launching from the legged ship," an operative informs. Ades gasps while Rau looks up from the holo-table with an amused grin.

In the hangar, Athrun hops into the Aegis as the announcer calls all pilots for immediate takeoff.

Once seated, Athrun straps himself in and starts fiddling with the controls...and goes frigid when he hears a familiar voice blaring through the speakers of the international channel.

"This is the Strike of the Earth Alliance forces' Archangel! I am bringing Lacus Clyne to you! In return, I demand that the Nazca-Class halt! I'll only hand her over if we're met by the pilot of the Aegis alone. Should this condition be breached, I can't guarantee her safety!"

The bridge crew looked on, anxiously waiting for the enemy's response.

Mu fastened himself in the Moebius Zero. Cagalli swore.

"I leave him alone for _one_ second and he goes off doing this! Man, what a pain in my ass…"

"What are they up to?" Ades asked to the masked man. He knew he was leaning on his chair without looking; it was just what one came to expect of him over time. Rau was about to reply, when the top screen flickered to life, displaying the image of an almost eager Athrun.

"Commander! Let me go!"

"We still don't know what their intentions are! Hell, for all we know, that might not even be Lacus in there!" Ades replied.

"Commander!" Athrun repeated. Everyone turned to the masked man in anticipation of his answer. Finally, he smiled and said, "All right. I authorize it."

Athrun smiled back gratefully.

"Thank you, commander!"

Ades turned to Rau and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"This could also serve as a chance for us. I'm just guessing, but I take it the pilot's quite young himself. "

Ades gave him a curious stare, but dropped the subject as the masked man continued.

"Stop the ship and prepare my CGUE for launch, Ades."

With that said, he pushed himself off the chair and made his way to the changing room as the Aegis flew out of the ship.

On the bridge of the Archangel, Natarle raised her head up to Murrue.

"Captain, he did that on his own, without authorization! We should attack!"

Murrue remained silent as Mu replied.

"Doing that would just get us on the Strike's bad side!"

Natarle let out a startled grunt, but otherwise said nothing.

"Well, that's only a ' _maybe',"_ he said with a grin in his voice. No one replied to the unfunny joke.

"The Nazca-class has cut its engines! Braking jets!" Romero reported.

"The Aegis is approaching!" Jackie informed.

Kira looked on cautiously as the red mobile suit neared and finally stopped.

The Strike raised its rifle at the Aegis; the mobile suit did not respond.

The two stood there for a good minute, before Kira finally spoke.

"Athrun Zala?"

"That's right," he replied.

"Open your cockpit!"

The Aegis's hatch opened, and Kira soon followed. He turned to Lacus.

"Say something."

Laus simply let out a confused "Hm?"

"He can't see your face. You need to prove it's you."

"Oh. I see," she said, before turning to Athrun. "Hi, Athrun. It's nice to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances."

Haro sweared and hopped in the girl's hands. Athrun smiled; that was Lacus, alright.

"Confirmed."

"Then hurry and take her with you!"

Athrun was more than happy to oblige. In seconds, he was out, leaning on the hatch door.

Kira turned to the girl once again and urged her to leave.

"Sure, but one moment." Lacus opened Haro's mouth and a blue holo-screen keyboard appears. She typed in a few buttons, and with one final push of a key, the holo-screen sank into Haro's belly. Moments later, the pink colored sphere burped out a small piece of paper. Lacus grabbed it and handed it to a confused Kira, who took the paper.

Upon further inspection, it turned out to be...a phone number? Kira looked up from the sheet of paper and into the eyes of a smiling Lacus.

"I had fun talking with you. I'd like to keep in contact with you, if that's alright."

Kira smiled and gave his reply.

"I'd love to. Now go."

Lacus obliged and floated towards the Aegis. She grabbed his outstretched hand. They smiled at each other, before Lacus turned back to Kira.

"Thank you for everything. And you too, Athrun."

Kira smiled back at the happy reunited couple.

"Kira, you come too! You can bring Cagalli over! I know it won't be so easy, but we'll work around it! That way, you won't have to fight for the Earth Forces anymore, right?"

Kira gasped at his words, and even more to his shock, he found part of himself agreeing with them. But alas (at least for Athrun), that was a very small part.

"Lool, Athrun. Believe me, a lot of me wants to jump at your offer and leave all this fighting behind me. But aboard that ship are people I want to protect. People I promised I 'd protect. My friends are on that ship!"

Athrun remained silent, but his eyes told a thousand words of sorrow and frustration. The same could be said about the brunnette.

"Then I've got no choice. The next time we fight, I'll personally defeat you!" He said, voice shaking.

The boy gasped, but soon replied.

"Same goes for me!"

With that said, Kira closes his cockpit, lowers his rifle, and floats away from the two. Lacus looked on in concern at the two. Eventually, her eyes fell firmly on the bluenette.

"Athrun, are you going to be okay?"

He remained silent, and ushered Lacus back into the cockpit. Lacus sighed; _boys._

Unfortunately for everyone, the moment was about to be broken.

"The enemy mobile suit is moving away!" Ades cried.

"Start engine, Ades!"

The CGUE is flung out of the blaring ship and soon finds his prey.

"Mobile suit launching from ship!" Jackie informed. Natarle could only look at his console, mouth agape.

"The Nazca-class has started its engines!" Romero reported.

Inside a certain mobile armor, Mu glared at the screen.

"I knew this would happen!"

With that said, the Moebius launched.

Athrun looked up at the CGUE, shock written all over him. Lacus stared in horror at the events currently playing before her; it was like watching a trainwreck in slow motion.

"Commander?"

"Athrun, return to the ship with Miss Lacus!"

Kira felt the back of his head tingling as the white mobile suit approached, but was soon brought back to Earth as he caught a glimpse of the streaking Zero.

"Lieutenant La Flaga?!"

"Did you seriously just believe they'd just sit back and watch us leave?!"

The two Gundam pilots narrowed their eyes and prepared for the worse.

 _No… Not if I can help it!_

With a gleam of resolve in her constricted eyes, Lacus leaned in, scanning over the controls of the Aegis. Athrun turned worried (but mostly confused) eyes to the songstress.

"Lacus, get back. You could hurt yourself..."

' _Which one...oh, so that's it, huh?'_

She finally pressed a button and leaned back, her eyes back to normal.

"Commander Rau le Creuset!" she started. Rau looked on in wonder at the girl as she continued.

"Stop this at once! Are you trying to turn this place into a battlefield with a representative of the memorial delegation here?"

Rau hissed in frustration; they had gotten a solid opportunity to lay waste to those guys, and she was making them _let it go?_

"Why, at a time like this…" he grumbled under his breath.

"Stop your combat operations at once!" Lacus repeated again, with a pinch more of assertiveness.

The bridge crew let out inaudible sounds, their mouths agape.

"Can't you hear me?"

 _Such a troublesome young girl._

"Roger that, Lacus Clyne."

With that said, the CGUE makes it way back to the Vesalius. Athrun stared at the girl, completely speechless.

"What? I did what anyone would've done."

Athrun didn't have any words for that, but Haro had plenty...as usual, for pretty much everything.

Mu went back to the Strike and spoke.

"I'm not sure what just happened, but we're heading back too. Don't wanna go kicking anymore hornet's nests."

Kira blinked; it was only for a few moments, but he was sure of it. He saw a cerulean jewel-like seed hovering about inside the Aegis. It looked almost...digital, he noted.

"Kid!"

"Oh. Right."  
With that said, Kira and Mu made their leave, but not before the former gave one more fleeting glance at the Aegis. Mu spoke through the visual comm screen.

"That sure was one hell of a princess…"

Kira smiled at the remark in spite of the tears he felt rising.

"Yeah, she sure was…"

He could cry later. Right now, he needed to go to bed; It had been a strange, emotionally exhausting day. But at least Lacus was safe. Yes, he could cry over his situation with Athrun later.

Cagalli sighed as she saw the two returning home.

' _At least he didn't bust the pack this time.'_

Flay stood at the hangar with a mysterious gaze. She didn't know when, and she didn't know how, but mark her words, she would prove Cagalli wrong and stop this current flow of affairs.


End file.
